


PETS

by Dizzaster



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Language, M/M, Male Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-22 22:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 50,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/615211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dizzaster/pseuds/Dizzaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>PETS: Personal Entertainment Technology Systems. Lifelike robotics beings built to the owners specifications, from hair color, to height and personality. No two were built exactly alike, and only one company in the entire world built PETS. Pet Palace had been building, programming, tweaking, and perfecting PETS since the year 2076. While PETS were highly desired by almost everyone, they were hardly cheap. Each PET System was hand crafted with not one ever being touched by any sort of machinery. Completely lifelike and hard to distinguish from real living, breathing humans once their PETS programming was fully operational.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for NaNoWriMo 2008. It's VERY rough and unedited, and will probably never be edited or concluded properly. Just a warning.

PETS: Personal Entertainment Technology Systems. Lifelike robotics beings built to the owners specifications, from hair color, to height and personality. No two were built exactly alike, and only one company in the entire world built PETS. Pet Palace had been building, programming, tweaking, and perfecting PETS since the year 2076. While PETS were highly desired by almost everyone, they were hardly cheap. Each PET System was hand crafted with not one ever being touched by any sort of machinery. Completely lifelike and hard to distinguish from real living, breathing humans once their PETS programming was fully operational.

Today, the company was hand crafting a PET System for a very special customer. Kaeden had personally hand selected every option for his PET System several months before he had even travelled to Pet Palace in Tokyo, Japan. For the entire flight, the twenty two year old had checked and double checked his specifications, making sure that everything he wanted would be included in the design and programming. His PETS appearance needed to compliment Kaeden’s own blonde hair and fair skin, and there needed to be no personality conflicts. From this list of specifications, Jace was built. Pet Palace robotics technicians lovingly implanted the male’s waist length deep red hair, complete with natural looking highlights and perfectly shaped and sculpted eyebrows. Green eyes were graced with ebony eyelashes, just long enough to be seen as beautiful without looking too feminine. A hint of sun kissed color graced Jace’s flawless skin. Just enough to bring life to his face and add definition to his perfectly peach colored lips. He matched Kaeden in height, standing at a perfect five foot nine inches. If there hadn’t been laws against PETS modeling, Jace’s slender yet perfectly toned body would be perfect for the runway.

“Kaeden Lancaster?” The petite receptionist that manned the main office of Pet Palace lifted her head from her work, peering into the well furnished waiting area. The blonde male in question had been waiting quite patiently for nearly three straight hours that day, not that he had complained even once. Kaeden had placed his order almost a week earlier, paying cash for his twenty five thousand dollar PET System. He knew that he could have stayed at his hotel and waited for Pet Palace to call him when Jace was ready, but the young male was rather impatient. Even if he didn’t show it in an outward fashion, besides sitting in the waiting for hours upon hours every day.

“Yes?” Kaeden rose from the plush white couch he had been sitting on, placing a bookmark in the novel he had been occupying himself with while he had been waiting. The receptionist smiled at him as he approached, having never met such a polite young man. Not to mention the patience he had, even when he could have been out enjoying the sights that Tokyo had to offer.

“Mr. Evans was wondering what outfit you would like your PET System to be wearing. We have several books you could look through, if you aren’t sure what you might be looking for.” She reached into the drawer on her left, intending to pull out the clothing portfolios she herself had put together.

“I actually brought my own clothes for him,” the blonde stopped her; lifting a box she hadn’t even noticed he had been carrying.

“I’ll send these right up,” she smiled, holding out her hands to accept the box. It was a little battered from being carried around for the last week, but it was nice to see someone so passionate about their PETS. Kaeden thanked her, before returning to his place on the plush couch, once again opening the book he had been reading. He hadn’t bothered to ask how much longer he had been waiting, seeing as they had been wondering about what to dress Jace in. That had to mean that Kaeden would soon be receiving his beautiful hand crafted PETS, and that thought alone kept the blonde from focussing one hundred percent on his novel. The receptionist shook her head with a smile, handing the box to one of the many specially designed PET System messenger boys that had been created to work in Pet Palace. Just a few more modifications, and soon Kaeden’s patient waiting would all be worth it.

“Have you ever had a PET System before?” The blonde jerked a little in his seat, unaware that anyone else had been in the waiting room with him. He marked his page in his book and peered over at the man who had come to sit across from him on another couch. He hadn’t heard the older male enter the waiting area, but his thoughts had been on Jace, and no his surroundings.

“No, this will be my first,” he answered honestly, resting his novel on his lap. The older man seemed to look him up and down, and Kaeden winced inwardly. He didn’t know why the man had decided to talk to him, and wasn’t a very outgoing person himself. That was one of the reasons he had chosen to get a PET System. If he didn’t have the strength to go out and find himself someone special, or even someone to be considered a friend, then he would buy himself one that would love him unconditionally no matter how insane he acted.

“I’m picking up my third,” the man informed him. Before Kaeden could ask about the number, the man continued on. “I just love the girls this place fires off, but they wear out too fast. I have to replace them every ten years or so.” The man had continued to babble on, but Kaeden’s mind had once again drifted off in another direction. PETS were specially made to be almost indestructible, and had a titanium skeleton. Their skin was an ultra strong Japanese synthetic that looked and felt just like the real thing, but was much more durable than normal human skin. It would take a rather large amount of use and abuse to give someone the need to replace their PETS. The beautiful machines were made to last a lifetime, and it bothered Kaeden to know that someone was using their PETS so harshly that they barely lasted ten short years. The blonde knew he would never do anything to harm Jace. After all, the red head was going to love him forever, no matter what, and that was what Kaeden wanted more than anything else.

“So’s I pushed her off the balcony!” Kaeden jerked back into the present when the man slapped his hands down on the table that separated the two couches, his eyes going wide. He had missed what the man had been saying, but it still disturbed him to no end.

“She wasn’t doing it properly, so off she went. I have the money, so’s I just keep getting new ones.”

“Mr. Greyson?” Kaeden thanked the gods when the man left the waiting area to speak with the receptionist, though he did pity the young woman. How many times had she had to admit this man’s broken and damaged PETS? Did she know how they came to be damaged in such ways that made it Pet Palace’s responsibility to replace or repair the PETS with no questions asked? He watched as one of the white clothing clad messenger PETS led out a nearly naked female, absently chewing his bottom lip. The girl barely looked old enough to be considered legal, and was wearing the most revealing clothing Kaeden had ever seen anyone wear. Her most intimate body parts were barely covered by thing, nearly see through scraps of brightly colored fabric, and the shoes she was wearing had to be the highest heels ever created. This was a PET System that had been crafted to be nothing more than a sexual slave, and it made Kaeden vow to himself to never treat Jace in such a fashion. The man, Mr. Greyson, clipped a leash to the silver choke collar around the young female’s neck, pulling roughly as he simply strode out of the waiting area, not bothering to even utter a thank you. Kaeden had to avert his eyes as the girl stumbled and trailed after the disgusting man. How many times would she have to be repaired before Mr. Greyson simply threw her off the balcony and demanded a new PET System?

“Don’t mind him Mr. Lancaster, he’s just a complete asshole.” Kaeden once more rose from the couch, moving to stand beside the reception desk. He watched the messenger PET System leave the room, and wondered if they had ever been mistreated by their masters.

“They’re surrendered PETS,” the young woman informed him, and Kaeden glanced back down at her. The silver nametag on her chest read “Candice”, and it made Kaeden smile ever so slightly.

“You don’t destroy them after someone has abandoned them?” he asked, and Candice shook her head.

“Oh, of course not! We reprogram them to become Pet Palace workers, and they live out the rest of their programmed lives working here. If we don’t have a place for them, then we find them new homes. After all, we can redesign and reprogram them so no one knows what they used to be like.”

“Do their new owners know they’re purchasing pre-owned PETS?”

“Of course they do. Pre-owned PETS come with a price discount, and a smaller warranty. While new PETS are twenty five thousand dollars, and come with a lifetime warranty,” she explained, and Kaeden found himself fascinated by how everything worked. Candice had taken note of the young man’s interest, and continued explaining things.

“Pet Palace is committed to providing the best possible PETS experience, hence the reason we don’t ask questions when people surrender, or damage, their PETS. We simply repair or replace them, no questions asked. Or we find them new homes with those who are willing to take in pre-owned PETS. The discount means that people who never thought they were ever going to be able to own one of our products now has a chance. The warranty only covers about twenty years or so, because fixing PETS always seems to result in some sort of malfunction. They just aren’t the same as brand new PETS, and we haven’t been able to figure out why.” Kaeden nodded his head some, silently comparing pre-owned PETS to pre-owned cars. They might look brand new, but there is always some sort of damages that have been fixed, which in turn might result in an unpredictable malfunction.

“Your PET System should be brought down soon,” Candice informed him, and Kaeden simply nodded, leaning on the reception desk. He still couldn’t believe someone could spend so much money on a perfect partner, or friend, and then in turn damage them or send them back to Pet Palace.

“I spent a long time designing Jace,” he mumbled, simply looking around the waiting area. It was quiet again, and all Kaeden heard was Candice typing away on her computer. The young woman didn’t answer him, but he knew she had probably heard his mumblings. His mind was racing with the thoughts of Jace, and how soon he would be part of Kaeden’s life.

“Mr. Lancaster?” Kaeden turned, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he came face to face with a long legged red head, and a man wearing the Pet Palace uniform.

“My name is Kent Evans,” the man smiled, offering out his hand. The two males shook, and Kent motioned to the red head that stood beside him.

“This is Jace. Built to your exact specifications. If there’s anything else you would like us to add, or subtract, please let us know.” Kaeden’s eyes travelled over his new PETS body, taking a step forward to stroke his fingers over Jace’s smooth cheek. He was surprised when Jace leaned into the touch, pulling his hand back quickly. Kent laughed softly, patting Kaeden’s shoulder.

“His programming is in full swing, so he’s going to react like a normal human being from now on. You told us you wanted him to act normal, so here you are. He’s aware that he is a PET System, but he won’t admit it to anyone. Well, except you, of course. Seeing as you’re the one who created him, essentially,” Kent explained. Kaeden nodded some, one more reaching out to touch Jace’s body. He let his hands wander over the synthetic skin and the clothing he had chosen, happy that he had picked the right sizes. Jace was wearing a slightly baggy pair of faded blue jeans, and a simply black t-shirt with silver trim, as well as basic running shoes that were black and white. Luckily, Kent had stepped in and placed a belt around Jace’s slender waist when he had noticed that the pants were almost too big in that one area and the black leather belt complimented the look Kaeden had strived for.

“He looks so amazing...”

“I’m glad that we do good work,” Kent agreed, lifting a briefcase into Kaeden’s view. “This is all the information you’re going to want, and need, for Jace. How to take care of him, general questions you might have, and contact information should you ever need our help.” Kaeden thanked the man, accepting the case and offering out his free hand to Jace.

“Let’s go back to the hotel,” he said softly, and had to keep himself from jumping when Jace took his hand, the two leaving the waiting room. Kaeden barely had the mind to call out a thank you to both Candice and Kent before he and Jace stepped through the main doors and out into the street. It took only a few moments for Kaeden to flag down a taxi, sliding into the back seat with Jace at his side, instructing the driver to take them back to his hotel. He was slightly amused to watch Jace peer out the window, looking at all the sights of the city as they moved through it, and it made Kaeden wonder just how much Jace knew.

“How much do you know about the city?” he asked, resting a hand on Jace’s knee. The red head looked back at him with a smile, sitting properly once more.

“Everything that someone who had lived here for nineteen years would know,” he informed the blonde. “Isn’t that how you wanted it to be?” Kaeden smiled in return, taking Jace’s hand in his once more.

“Yeah... I want you to be just like a real nineteen year old.”

“And that’s what I am. I’m everything you wanted me to be, and I’ll keep growing and learning,” Jace assured the blonde, laughing as Kaeden began to blush. The rest of the taxi ride was quiet, as Jace simply took in the world around him. Artificial thoughts were nothing compared to actually seeing and experiencing every little thing.

 

“Is there anything about me you aren’t comfortable with Kaeden?” Jace sat himself down on the hotel bed, gently crossing his legs at the ankle. “You seem like you just aren’t comfortable with me around.”

“It’s not that! I just...” Kaeden chewed lightly on his bottom lip, wondering how he was going to explain things. Jace smiled, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly as he watched, and waited patiently.

“I’ve never really been able to find someone who wanted to be with me, as a friend, or as a lover. So I made the choice to have you...but now I feel a little weird. And it’s not because of you! Well...maybe a little bit... I’m not sure how I feel having someone who loves me right off the bat, whereas I don’t...love you. You know?” The blonde hoped he wasn’t just babbling, playing with his fingers as he paced back and forth in front of the bed. He didn’t want to look at Jace, but at the same time he felt he was probably insulting the red head by seemingly ignoring him.

“We don’t have to jump into a relationship first thing,” Jace said with a soft voice, rising off the bed to come to stand with Kaeden. He took the blondes hands in his own, making him stop pacing and stand still.

“We can start off as friends, maybe do the dating thing, and go from there. I’ll be around for a lifetime, and we can take as much time as we need to.” Kaeden smiled a very small smile, gently squeezing Jace’s hands.

“What happens when I get older...and you stay young?” This was a question that had been bothering the older male since he had first made the choice to purchase a PET System. Jace smiled and pulled Kaeden closer to him, wrapping his arms around the man that would, hopefully, become his lover one day. The two simply embraced one another, Jace resting his head against Kaeden’s shoulder, breathing deeply. He was programmed to have all the same bodily functions as a normal human, and that included breathing, an artificial heart beat, and eating and drinking. While his body didn’t break down food and drink like a normal person, he still used the bathroom to expel his waste. It was part of the promise to make PETS as human as possible.

“You can always take me to Pet Palace to have me changed physically,” Jace informed him, nuzzling his nose against Kaeden’s soft neck. “I can grow and age right along with you, if that’s what you want to happen.” Kaeden simply let his body rest against Jace’s, closing his eyes and savouring the feeling of being so physically close to someone. He hadn’t felt human contact other than a handshake for many years, and it felt good to be in someone’s arms.

“Maybe we could go out for dinner tonight?” Jace offered, wanting to break the silence. Kaeden stepped back, running a hand through his short hair.

“Yeah...dinner sounds good to me. Maybe some authentic sushi of some sort?”

“Sushi actually comes from China,” Jace corrected, and Kaeden laughed.

“You really do know everything, don’t you?”

“Pretty much, but I still think sushi sounds like a good idea. You can teach me how to use chopsticks.”

“You don’t know how to use chopsticks?” Kaeden lifted one eyebrow, flopping himself backwards onto the hotel bed. Jace shrugged his shoulders some, sitting on the edge of the bed beside Kaeden’s legs.

“Knowing something is different from experiencing things,” he said. Kaeden playfully prodded the red head with his toe, making Jace squirm with pre-programmed ticklish spots.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Kaeden grinned, watching Jace squirm. “Most people aren’t naturally talented with chopsticks.”

“I’m naturally talented with other things,” Jace smirked, winking at the blonde. With a mighty heave of his weight, Kaeden all but tackled Jace onto the floor, trusting his PET System would be able to handle the rough tackle. His fingers instantly went to the ticklish spots he had found, grinning as Jace squealed and squirmed under him.

 

The return trip to Canada was an eighteen hour flight, with a three hour layover in an international airport, and a one hour drive from the airport to Kaeden’s beautiful two level home. The blonde prided himself on showing his wealth sparingly, and as long as no one knew Jace was a PET System, no one would know how much money he really had. He drove a modest Chevy Avalanche, something multiple people drove in the small city Kaeden lived in. The house was two floors with a basement, and a modest front and back yard. It was positioned just slightly out of the city, giving him enough space to have a yard for animals, if he chose for that to happen. As he and Jace pulled into his gravel driveway, he smiled and breathed a small sigh of happiness, as coming home had never felt so good. Everything was the way he had left it, short of his grass needing to be mowed, but that wasn’t a big deal. There were more important things to think about, especially seeing as this was not just his own home anymore.

“So...what do you think?” the blonde asked as he pulled his belongings out of the back of the truck, shouldering his duffle bag on one shoulder. Jace smiled, darting ahead of Kaeden to explore every inch of the yard, streaking from end to end and even rolling in the grass.

“I’ve never seen anything like this!” Jace laughed, showing off his programmed flexibility with several cartwheels and even a back handspring or two. Kaeden shook his head with a laugh and left the red head to explore, pulling out his house keys and unlocking the front door. He trusted Jace not to get himself lost as he headed up to the second level to put his clothes away. His house smelled a little closed in, and it made Kaeden wrinkle his nose and pull open his master bedroom window. The air outside was fresh and lightly fragranced by the many lilac bushes Kaeden had hand planted himself, and the smell was very much welcomed inside the house. He paused and leaned on his window sill, watching Jace smell the flowers and try to climb one of the trees he had around the back edge of his property. The pretty red head looked so happy, and it made Kaeden smile, simply watching the young male run here and there.

“I’m glad that he’s happy to be here,” Kaeden mused quietly, moving to put his clothes away, most items landing in the laundry hamper beside his master bathroom door. With Jace around, his house wasn’t going to be empty anymore, and that thought alone was enough to make Kaeden smile.

“Kaeden? Where are you?”

“Upstairs Jace!” Kaeden called, moving to stand at the top of the stairs. He smiled even wider as Jace made his way up the stairs, sweeping the red head into his arms. Something about Jace made him feel completely whole, but there was always the worry that it was only because of the PETS programming.

“Something on your mind Kaeden?” Jace asked with a smile. Kaeden shook his head, leading the red head around the second level, showing him everything. The master bedroom was the last thing to show Jace, blushing faintly as he realized that he only had one bed for the two of them to sleep in.

“Maybe we should go shopping?” Jace suggested, lacing his fingers with Kaeden’s gently. “I think sharing the same bed would be a mistake at this point in time. You aren’t ready for such a fast moving relationship.” Kaeden thanked the gods above that Jace had the understanding he needed when it came to this relationship business.

“I think that would be a good idea,” the blonde agreed. “Even though I feel a connection with you, I know that I don’t want to move as fast as you were programmed to.”

“I understand,” Jace nodded. “We’ll go out and get me everything I’m going to need, and I’m sure you have another bedroom in this house.” Kaeden nodded, leading Jace back down to the main floor, showing him the secondary bedroom, as well as the kitchen and the basement access.

“Laundry is done downstairs, as well as a hot tub, and a general lounge area. There’s a bar, and two couches, both pull out into really comfortable beds, and there’s even a full bathroom. I wanted a place just to hang out with my friends...but I ended up not making any friends.”

“Well, now you have me, and from here we can meet new people,” Jace assured him, closing the basement door, absently leaning against it. Every conversation with Kaeden felt forced and awkward, and he didn’t want to keep pushing the blonde if it meant that they weren’t going to get along. After all, he had been designed to make Kaeden happy, and if Kaeden wasn’t happy, there was always the possibility of the twenty two year old simply sending him back to Pet Palace.

“I don’t want to keep being reminded that you’re not real,” Kaeden almost whispered, and Jace had to force himself to smile, cupping the blonde’s cheeks with his hands. He knew that he may just be taking his actions a little too far, but he felt like it had to be done. The red head leaned forward, closing the small gap of space between the two males, pressing his always soft lips against Kaeden’s. He felt the blonde tense under his hands, but didn’t pull away until he felt Kaeden step back, the red head letting his hands drop back down to his side.. The two simply stared at one another, and Jace felt a pre-programmed blush spread over his synthetic skin covered cheeks.

“I’m real,” he said softly, moving his hands to rest on Kaeden’s hips as he made sure he didn’t break eye contact with the blonde as he assured him. “I’m real and I’m yours...forever...”

“Truly?” Kaeden managed to ask in a quiet voice. He stepped forward when Jace tugged on his hips, letting himself become enveloped in the red heads artificial body warmth. Everything about Jace felt so incredibly real, and he wanted nothing more than to believe everything Jace was telling him.

“Forever, and for always,” Jace whispered back, pressing a gentle kiss to the area just below Kaeden’s left ear lobe. Together, they stood together at the entry to the basement, simply holding one another.

“Don’t let go...”

 

The trip back into town took all of five minutes, but moving from store to store in order to get everything Jace would need took almost four straight hours. They needed to pick out a bed that would actually fit into the guest room that Kaeden had, but also made it possible for the two of them to share the bed if the time came to that. There was also the matter of bedding, pillows, and personal supplies for the guest bathroom. The most important purchase of the evening was new clothes for Jace, including a few that made Kaeden blush.

“You can’t wear those!” the blonde had stammered. As a reply, Jace simply smirked and tossed another pair of the nearly indecent shorts in question into the shopping cart. 

“I’m my own person, and I can make my own choices,” came the response, after purchasing an extra large box of condoms and several bottles of sexual lubrication. Kaeden had simply handed over his debit card and pin number at that point, mumbling about meeting Jace outside the store once the red head was done his shopping. He only ended up waiting less than twenty minutes before Jace strolled out of the shopping center, smirking as he pushed his cart full of several hundred dollars worth of items. Most of the bags were full of clothes, and the rest were filled with personal supplies Jace would need to function like a normal human being. Of course, Kaeden knew that somewhere in the mass of bags was the naughty clothing and embarrassing items that had caused him to wait in the truck in the first place. The blonde stepped out of the truck and helped Jace load everything into the back seat, absently taking note of which bags held the naughty items, and making sure that he wasn’t going to be the one to carry them into the house. As sure as he was of his sexuality, Kaeden was far from ready to simply come out and have sex with someone he barely knew, even if that was what Jace had been created for. The two of them stayed rather quiet through all of this, despite the grin on Jace’s face, and the obvious issues Kaeden had with intimacy. Of course, being programmed to speak his mind made Jace ask the obvious question the moment they were travelling back towards the house.

“So… You’re a virgin, huh?” Kaeden inadvertently swerved through the second lane of traffic, shocked that the red head next to him would ask such a question completely out of the blue. The jerking action caused Jace to cry out in shock and grip the built in handles of the truck, his green eyes going wide. He didn’t dare look over to his left and see what Kaeden was doing, but he realized they had suddenly detoured off the route they had taken to the store. There were no more questions asked as Jace simply sat quietly for the ride, looking around at the small city around him and wondering where in the world Kaeden was taking them. There really wasn’t much to the town, so it baffled Jace’s mind when they continued down the main street and straight out of the city.

“You aren’t going to drive me out into the wilderness and leave me out there to die, are you?” Jace asked in a small voice. He was expecting Kaeden to laugh at him, peering over at the blonde through his long bangs.

“We’re going to have a little talk,” Kaeden answered honestly, and despite not really being human, Jace still felt a chill run through him. He knew enough about relationships that having ‘a talk’ meant that they were going to break up, but he and Kaeden weren’t in any sort of a relationship, so this was all very confusing. There were no obvious signs marking where they were heading, but Kaeden seemed to know where he was going, so Jace wasn’t about to complain. He didn’t have a need to be warm, fed, or near civilization, so he knew he really didn’t need to worry if Kaeden really was going to toss him out on the side of the road.

“I guess I should have stopped and grabbed us some dinner first, seeing as we took forever shopping for everything, but I didn’t honestly expect to be coming out here at eight o’clock at night either.”

“We can turn around and go back and do this some other time,” Jace offered quietly, but Kaeden simply shook his head and continued driving.

“I’m pretty sure we need to have this talk before we get any further along in this ‘relationship’ we’re in. You need to understand some things about me, and until we get this done and over with, I know things are just going to be tense between the both of us,” Kaeden explained, turning off the paved road and onto a gravel and dirt one. Jace had never honestly seen the country before, as most of his programming had to do with cities, and rich owners. Everything about Kaeden was so different from what he had been programmed to know, and it meant he had to quickly adapt and learn about his new surroundings.

“Where are we?”

“A place called The Point. I know, I know. You probably have heard that in about a hundred different movies, but that’s what we call it here. Most people just come out here to have sex, or to do drugs, but I find it’s a great place to come and think. And in our case, it’s going to be the best place to have a serious talk without any interruptions.” Jace nodded silently, watching as they pulled up to the very edge of what looked to be one very vertical drop down many hundreds of feet. His eyes landed on a small white cross that held a wreath of plastic and silk flowers, and he wondered what horrible thing had happened at this location for someone to die.

“A man was having an argument with his wife,” Kaeden explained softly, putting the truck into park and setting the emergency break. “They were getting a divorce, and they were arguing over who was going to get custody of their two little girls. Not wanting his soon to be ex-wife to have custody, the father drove up to the point with his daughters.” Jace closed his eyes, feeling as though he already knew what Kaeden was going to say next, and he didn’t honestly want to hear it.

“He drove off the edge with his daughters in the car with him.” Kaeden reached over and took Jace’s hand, squeezing gently. The red head unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over, hugging himself against Kaeden’s side.

“I don’t understand why humans do what they do,” he admitted, pressing his face against Kaeden’s neck.

“That’s why I want to talk about things,” Kaeden explained, holding Jace against him. “The man never spoke about his feelings, and was so angry that he did horrible things. I know better than that, and I don’t ever want to think that I have to resort to such drastic measures. I want you to know everything about me, and not just what I had programmed into your when I bought you. I want you to know why I have issues with sex, and why I don’t have any friends and live alone in a modest house, even though I have more than enough money to have a mansion.”

“I want to know all those things,” Jace mumbled, his eyes closed tightly as he simply clutched himself against the blonde. He was programmed to breathe like a real person, and the programmed emotions in his robotic mind were causing him to breathe raggedly.

“I want to tell you all those things.”

 

Kaeden and Jace never returned home to the house until nearly three the next morning, and Jace was the one driving Kaeden’s large Chevy Avalanche while the blonde slept silently in the passenger seat. He hadn’t known that he was able to drive, but apparently it had been something that was programmed in, and when Kaeden had started falling asleep while they sat and talked, Jace knew it was time to go home. He also knew that Kaeden was in no state to drive, and with gentle hands he had moved Kaeden to the passenger seat and lovingly belted him in before moving himself to the driver’s side. The red head knew he was going to have to get a license if he was going to keep driving, but at that very moment, he didn’t care if there was a chance that they could get caught. Luckily he had been paying attention on the ride to and from the house, or else he knew they would have been lost, despite it being a smaller city that Jace had ever really seen. He did happen to take a few wrong turns, and back tracked a few times, but eventually the red head made it home. There was no need to bring in any of the items he had purchased, seeing as it wasn’t cold outside and nothing was at risk of spoiling as they hadn’t bought any food. Jace was a lot stronger than he looked, seeing as his bones were made out of titanium and his muscles were completely synthetic, easily lifting Kaeden into his arms and out of the passenger seat of the truck. He used his foot to close the door of the truck, fumbling with the house keys in his one hand, and holding Kaeden close to him at the same time. How people did this on their wedding day was a complete mystery to Jace, but then again he supposed most people were awake when they were being carried. It took some shuffling, but Jace was able to unlock the door to the house, and step inside without banging Kaeden’s head against anything. He even managed to shut the door with his foot, and make his way up the stairs to the master bedroom, gently laying Kaeden on top of his blankets. Not knowing how the blonde chose to sleep, Jace carefully removed his shoes, socks, and outer articles of clothing, leaving Kaeden in only a pair of blue silk boxers. Had they been a real couple, Jace would have gladly crawled into bed beside Kaeden, warming the other boy with his own synthetic body heat, but that wasn’t the case with the two of them. Instead, the red head gently shifted Kaeden’s still sleeping body and managed to get the plush goose down blankets over his body, and a pillow settled comfortably under his head.

“Sleep well,” Jace whispered, slipping out of the bedroom and closing the door behind himself. He was happy to have built in night vision as part of his programming, seeing as it meant he hadn’t needed to turn on any lights within the house, which probably had kept Kaeden from waking up. The red head himself moved back down to the main floor, sprawling himself out over the large plush couch that Kaeden had in the living room and letting himself sink into what would be considered ‘sleep mode’ if he was a personal computer. While he honestly didn’t need to sleep, seeing as he ran on a power cell that remained charged as long as he was moving around, Jace was programmed to act as human as possible, so ‘sleeping’ was the normal thing to do. He fumbled with one hand against the back of the couch, tugging an equally plush fleece blanket over his resting body, despite the fact that he really didn’t feel any sort of cold. The sensation of being bundled up in warmth simulated the feeling of sharing a bed with someone, and that was enough to make Jace smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaeden woke just shortly after nine in the morning, his body alerting him to the fact that he needed to use the bathroom. He didn’t realize that he was only in his underwear until he made it to his usual position in front of the toilet, his hand coming into contact with the silky material instead of the usual naked skin he found in the morning. This woke him up just enough to shed the offending garment, giving himself access to relieve himself. It wasn’t until he was already in the shower that Kaeden realized he was moving on auto-pilot, as though he was getting ready to go to work. The warm water felt amazing on his still tired skin, and he ended up simply standing under the spray, letting his sore muscles relax.  
The blonde rested his forehead against the cool tile of his shower, losing himself in the sound and sensation of the water flowing over his body, unaware that Jace was even in the house. His mind was still fogged from sleep, and he didn’t honestly remember that someone other than himself was in his house. It wasn’t until he had washed his hair and scrubbed his body clean that he was finally one hundred percent awake, and through the lingering smell of his manly body wash as he dried off, Kaeden could swear that he smelled pancakes. Wrapping his towel around his waist, Kaeden stepped out of his bathroom and took several deep breaths.

“I really do smell pancakes…” he mumbled, padding across the plush bedroom carpet to stick his head out of his bedroom door.

“I’m cooking pancakes!” Jace called up the stairs, his heightened hearing picking up on the fact that the shower was no longer running. Kaeden jumped a little, before groaning and shutting his bedroom door. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten that Jace was living with him now, especially when they had spent the entire day together.

“I wonder where he ended up sleeping last night,” Kaeden mused, glancing at his large king size bed. It was clear that no one had shared with him during the night, so the blonde had to assume that Jace had slept downstairs on the couch, which was the only other available sleeping surface in the house.

“Come eat!” Kaeden slanted a look towards his closed bedroom door, wondering just how sharp all of Jace’s senses were. He quickly dressed himself in a light t-shirt and a pair of loose sweat pants before heading downstairs and taking in the scent of a home cooked breakfast. The sight of Jace standing in his newly purchased boxers and an apron made Kaeden smile, his bare feet barely making a sound as he made his way into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“You didn’t have to cook breakfast you know,” he told the red head in front of him, leaning on one hand to watch Jace move between the stove and the kitchen table. The red head simply smiled at him, setting out a plate of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and hash browns.

“It’s something I liked to do,” Jace said with a shrug, moving to grab a set of utensils and set them on the table as well. “Eat up.”

“This...is more than I eat in one day!”

“Then you aren’t eating right, are you? Now eat your breakfast, and from now on I’m going to make sure that you eat properly. No wonder you’re so short.”  
“I’m five foot seven! And you’re the same height,” Kaeden said, waving a fork at the red head. Jace sat down across from Kaeden and grinned, sticking his tongue out playfully.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m not really sure,” Jace answered honestly. Kaeden rolled his eyes and speared one of his hash browns, offering it to the red head. If anyone else had been at the table with them, Kaeden realized that it would have looked like a very romantic moment, but really it was purely a reaction.

“You’re a great cook.”

“Amazing for someone who doesn’t have any taste buds, huh?” Jace said after he swallowed the bite of food he had been given. 

“You can't taste anything?”

“It’s a little complicated...Instead of asking me, you should actually read all that information they gave you when you picked me up at Pet Palace,” Jace informed the blonde, motioning to the briefcase that was sitting on the island countertop. “Just because you don’t want to think of me as a PET System doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be informed. Once you’ve read everything, then you can start asking me questions. I thought we didn’t want to talk about it?”

“I know what you’re talking about Jace...And thank you.” Kaeden wasn’t sure if every other PET System was programmed to act the way that Jace did, but he was happy none the less.

“Do we have any plans for the day?”

“I was thinking we could just put your room together. The store should be delivering it today, and we bought paint and what not, so we could set everything up the way you want it to be,” Kaeden shrugged. “After that, I have no idea what we’re going to do. I go back to work after the weekend, so I guess I’m going to have to find you something to do, aren’t I?” Jace shrugged his shoulders in response, earning a smile from the blonde across from him.

“We’re quite a lazy pair, aren’t we?”

“Yes, yes we are.”

 

Jace’s daytime hobby for when Kaeden was at work turned out to be working at the local horse stables. No one had to know that Jace was a PET System, and both he and Kaeden intended to keep it that way, passing off Jace’s knowledge of horses as a natural talent. Of course, anyone could read up and know everything about horses, but putting that knowledge into action was what made Jace all the more human. He was determined to learn all the tips and tricks that hadn’t been programmed into his memory banks, especially when it came to braiding the horse’s manes for shows. The more experienced riders at the stable were able to do the most amazing braids and ribbon ties, and Jace wanted nothing more than to learn all about that, watching avidly each time someone went to work on their horse. Hair care wasn’t exactly something the red head knew about, and it was exciting to be learning.

“You’re really becoming good at that,” one of the riders remarked, making Jace look up from the horse he was working on. A slender brunette was watching him, leaning her upper arms on the door of the stall.

“Thanks, I really like doing it.”

“Ever thought of doing it professionally?”

“Like...for money?” Jace had never heard of people braiding horse’s hair for money before, aside from being someone’s groom, and he knew he didn’t want to get stuck doing all the dirty jobs the riders didn’t want to do.

“Yeah, at horse shows and what not. Everyone knows that you get more points when your horse looks good, even if you screw up a little bit, so that’s why everyone is always so picky when it comes to braiding and pleating,” the young woman explained, gesturing slightly with one of her hands. “Especially when it comes to winning the big money or an endorsement of some sort.”

“Are you talking about being a groom?”

“Well, that’s one way of going in that direction, but I’ve met people who are strictly interested in making the horse look good. Polishing their hooves, pleating their manes, and brushing them. That sort of thing,” she answered honestly. Jace watched her for a moment, before he turned back to the horse that was almost sleeping beside him. His quick fingers went back to work on the ribbons he was braiding into the thick mane, a sparkling silver color that was a good contrast for the ebony of the mane.

“Are you offering me a job?”

“No, just a suggestion.”

“Well thank you, but I don’t think I’m interested in travelling with riders. I have obligations here at home,” Jace informed her, finishing off the braid he had been working on and securing it with a clear hair elastic. He turned to face the brunette, and noticed her eyes look him up and down, one eyebrow of hers quirking.

“Girlfriend?”

“Boyfriend, and he’s the only one I’m ever going to be interested in. Especially when it comes to girls.”

“Pity, I’d love to have you bend me over the saddle rack and-“

“Jace!” Kaeden grinned, coming down the stable aisle with his hands in his pockets. “Where did you get to?” The red head smirked at the female in front of him, picking up his supplies and stepping out through the stall door, not bothering to spare her a second glance when he wrapped his arms around the approaching blonde. Kaeden blushed but returned the hug, holding Jace around the waist.

“You smell funny,” he said, wrinkling his nose ever so slightly. He didn’t see the look at the woman had given him, but he heard her heeled riding boots as she all but stomped away from the pair.

“It’s called hard work, oh Mr. Vice President of Game Design,” Jace teased playfully, though he was aware that he was covered in dirt and grime from working with a horse that he had only brushed the mane of. “Besides, I know you like it when I smell all manly.”

“You smell like shit.” Jace’s eyes went wide, and it took him a moment to realize that Kaeden was referring to the fact that he had stepped in manure at some point during his work in the stall.

“Get cleaned up and I’ll meet you in the truck,” Kaeden said with a smile, pressing a soft kiss to the red head’s forehead. “We’re going for a little drive.”

“Are you falling asleep on me again?”

“Just get your ass in the truck!” Jace laughed, making sure he had all his supplies before heading in the opposite direction as Kaeden, the red head heading to the tack room. Everything was cleaned lovingly and put away, just as he had found them, before he changed out of his stable clothes and into a pair of ordinary running shoes and a clean pair of jeans. The last two months with Kaeden had flown by, and Jace couldn’t help but wonder where the blonde was planning on taking him. Every day with Kaeden was an adventure, especially now that they were finally getting past that awkward friendship stage and into a more relaxed, almost boyfriends stage in their relationship. Who would have known that Kaeden had so many deep secrets he had been keeping for so long, but then again, who would have known that Jace would have changed everything so quickly. The blonde had admitted numerous times that he had never imagined feeling the way he did, especially with another male, but Jace had changed all that. As he approached Kaeden’s massive Chevy Avalanche, the red head noticed that there was a horse trailer attached to the back of it, and neither he nor Kaeden owned any horses. It looked brand new, and the only dirt on it was what had been picked up when Kaeden had travelled to retrieve the red head from his place of work. The blonde was indeed waiting for him in the truck, reading yet another novel and generally relaxing in the calming environment of the country stables.

“Why do we have a trailer?” Jace asked as he sat himself in the passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt.

“Because we’re going to be hauling something,” was the response. Kaeden placed his bookmark in his book and tucked the book in the glove compartment before readjusting himself in his seat. Jace wanted to ask more questions, but he was rather sure that Kaeden wasn’t about to give him any answers, at least, not the ones he wanted to hear. So he sat quietly, watching the countryside go by as Kaeden drove further out of town and past miles and miles of farmland. The red head absently remembered arriving at the airport the first day he had been with Kaeden, and how everything had looked like patchwork from the sky above, as though someone had laid a quilt over the entire world.

“I’m going away for awhile.” Jace turned his head, gazing at the male sitting beside him. Kaeden had never gone anywhere without him, but the tone of the blonde’s voice made Jace realize that he wasn’t going to be going this time.

“How long?”

“Just a few weeks, maybe two or three, not that long. I’ll leave the truck with you, so you can get around. We got your that special license for a reason, right?” Kaeden smiled at his friend, trying to reassure him that everything would be alright. “Besides, you’re going to have a lot more on your mind than me being gone.” Jace wasn’t enjoying Kaeden’s cryptic way of speaking, but when the blonde wanted to surprise him with something, it was always worth putting up with.

“Here we are.” Jace had to twist quickly in his seat to catch a glimpse of the large sign they were passing under, and his eyes went wide at the name he had seen. It took him only seconds to turn his body back around, looking around at everything that they were approaching.

“We’re getting a horse?” he almost cried, staring at the fields around them, and the beautiful horses within. Kaeden had to laugh again, pulling up to the main house in the yard and shifting his truck into park. He hadn’t even had time to shut the truck off before Jace had all but bolted out of the passenger seat, bouncing eagerly like a child.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Kaeden grinned, sliding out of the truck at a much more leisurely pace and coming around to curl one arm around Jace’s slender waist.

“I wanted to make up for not being around for awhile, and I figured this would be the best way to do it. I know how much you love working with horses, so I talked to the manager of the stables you work at, and you’re going to be boarding your horse there. Everything is paid for until next year, and by that time you’re going to have to start paying for it yourself,” the blonde explained. Jace smiled brightly, throwing his arms around Kaeden’s neck and kissing him soundly, the two unaware of the fact that there was someone approaching them. The farm manager simply let the two males have their moment together, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the hood of Kaeden’s truck. It only took a moment for the two to break apart, gently resting their foreheads against one another’s.

“Thank you…” Jace whispered, still holding himself against Kaeden. The blonde smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Jace’s nose.

“You know I’d do anything to make you happy.” The manager cleared his throat, making the two young men all but jump away from one another, both blushing to the point that even their ears were tinged with red.

“Glad to see that this was a good idea Kaeden,” the man grinned, offering out a hand to the blonde, and then to the red head. “I knew you had made the right choice when you told me you found yourself a new friend.”

“I was lucky to find him,” Kaeden said with a smile. “We’re still getting to know one another, but I know that this is something truly special.” The man simply continued to smile, motioning towards the stables.

“We brought in all the horses you thought Jace might be interested in, and a few of our own choosing. If you don’t see what you like here, then I’m sure we could go roam the fields and see if there’s anything out there that sparks your interest. My name is Matt, by the way, Matt Brenner. I own Hallow Haven Farms, and I’m the one everyone comes to when they’re looking to buy one of the best horses around.” Jace already knew that he liked Matt, just by the relationship he had with Kaeden. The two seemed to know each other past doing business with one another, and that was something that made Jace trust Matt all the more.

“Do you have any idea of what kind of horse you might like to own?” Matt asked, leading the two males into the first set of stables. Several horses had their heads sticking out over the stall doors, not used to being inside during the day. Jace was in heaven, moving from stall to stall and petting the soft noses of each horse. He wasn’t sure what kind of horse he was interested in, but he had a general idea from working with the horses at the Kellen Stables for the last six weeks.

“I think I like draft horses,” he told Matt, smiling when one of the horses bumped him with his nose, nearly upsetting the long legged red head.

“That’s a big horse for someone as small as you,” Matt told him honestly, but Jace shook his head.

“Maybe not a purebred draft, but maybe one that’s half and half, or something?”

“We have a Belgian Thoroughbred cross that we just broke in last year,” Matt offered. “He’s out in the paddock, but we can bring him in if you want. He’s a pretty big horse though, are you sure you can handle him?”

“No…” Jace answered honestly. “But I’m working at the same stables we’re going to be boarding him, so I know that I can get help to work with him if I need it.” Matt looked the red head up and down before nodding some, moving to call one of the stable hands away from the stall he was cleaning out.

“Go grab Soul Catcher and bring him in. We have someone interested in purchasing him.” The stable hand nodded and moved down the aisle to snag the halter and lead line of the horse in question before heading outside to catch him.

“That’s an interesting name for a horse,” Kaeden remarked, following Matt and Jace outside as they waited for the stable hand to come back with the large horse.

“He’s from Dream Catcher and Soul Stealer, so we felt it was only right to name him Soul Catcher,” Matt shrugged. “He’s still young, so we haven’t gelded him yet. I guess if you want him, then that’s going to be your choice if you want to geld him or not.”

“Geld means to castrate the horse,” Jace supplied before Kaeden could even ask. The red head snickered at the blonde when Kaeden absently crossed his legs at the thought of being castrated.

“Some horses just don’t get along with other horses, or with people, if they get to keep their dangly bits,” Matt continued for Jace, patting Kaeden’s shoulder. “Soul Catcher hasn’t shown any signs of aggression, so we’ve let him keep those precious pieces of him. For the time being, anyways.”

“Do you think he’s the type of horse that Jace would be able to handle on his own? I’m not going to be around for a few weeks, and even if Jace is going to be at the stables, I still want to know that he’s going to be okay handling this horse.” Kaeden didn’t want to come home to find out that Jace hadn’t been able to take care of Soul Catcher, or worse, to find his PET System battered and broken and Soul Catcher long gone. Matt nodded his head and motioned towards the paddock where the stable hand was bringing in a rather beautiful, and large, stallion. From what little Kaeden had picked up while Jace was learning all he could about horses, he could see the difference between the regular horses in the stable, and the half draft breed being walked towards them.

“He’s so gorgeous…” Jace breathed, gripping one of Kaeden’s arms in an attempt to keep himself from simply running up and throwing his arms around the huge stallion’s neck.

“He’s huge,” Kaeden agreed, wanting nothing more than to take a step back. The blonde wasn’t as at ease around such large animals as Jace was, but he knew he would have to get over it rather quickly if he was going to make Jace happy. As the stable hand positioned Soul Catcher in front of them, Jace eagerly looked over the horse, taking in every possible detail he could get from just simply looking at him. He was a combination of a light brown, with black legs, mane, and tail, and white front socks and a stripe from forehead to nose. Jace hadn’t even known that he would have wanted a horse like this, but just looking at Soul Catcher made him realize he wanted no other horse. The red head gently took the lead line from the stable hand, and stepped closer to the stallion’s head. Kaeden, Matt, and the stable hand all watched as Jace spoke to the huge horse, petting his nose and running his hands over his neck. Jace knew how to familiarize a horse with its handler, so he was following what he had been taught and going slow so he wouldn’t spook the animal.

“You said he’s broke, right?” Jace asked, sliding his hands over Soul Catcher’s back. Matt nodded, watching the red head carefully in case he made a wrong move.

“Yeah, we’ve been working him for about a year now. He’s pretty calm, and other than the initial breaking period, we haven’t had any problems with him.” Jace grinned, and before Matt could say anything, the red head had heaved himself up onto Soul Catcher’s back, gripping the horse’s sides with his legs. Kaeden groaned, wanting to cover his eyes as Jace settled himself, praying that the huge animal in front of him wouldn’t toss Jace to the ground.

“You’re a pretty brave kid, aren’t you?” Matt commented, moving forward to loop the lead line around the horse’s neck, tying the end to the halter and positioning it so it fell almost like a normal bridle.

“Does he neck reign?”

“We only teach English riding, so no, he doesn’t respond to touches on his neck. I guess that’s something you’re going to have to teach him yourself, aren’t you?” Jace grinned down at Matt, gripping the lead line turned reigns in one hand, the other hand grabbing a handful of coarse mane. The three standing on the ground gently held their breaths as Jace nudged Soul Catcher with his legs, prompting the horse to walk forward.

“You did an amazing job training him,” Jace commented. “I barely have to touch him with my legs.” With a talent he didn’t honestly know he had, Jace guided the horse around in circles, making sure to use both his legs, and the makeshift reigns. He had never ridden a horse without a saddle before, but his sense of balance was excellent, and he knew that this was what he wanted to do every day.

“We’ll take him,” Kaeden grinned, turning to face Matt. “Judging by the look on Jace’s face, this is the horse for him.”

“Let’s let the boy get acquainted with his new friend while we continue our business inside.” Matt informed the stable hand to stay outside with Jace, just in case, and to load the horse and it’s belongings into the horse trailer when Jace was done riding. The two men stepped into the stables and made their way down to the main office, Matt closing the door behind the two of them.

“I have the feeling that this is going to be a rather expensive horse,” Kaeden said with a smile, sitting down on the chair opposite of Matt’s large, and very beaten up, desk. The older man nodded and pulled out a few business books, going through the information with the blonde in front of him. Half an hour, and ten thousand dollars later, Kaeden and Matt headed back outside to see if Jace was still riding around. The sight that greeted them made Kaeden raise an eyebrow and shake his head, and Matt simply laughed. The stable hand was moving back and forth between the barn and the horse trailer, packing all of Soul Catcher’s personal equipment into the holding area, not at all concerned about leaving the red head and the stallion alone while he did so. Jace was sprawled over the horses back, simply watching the clouds go by as Soul Catcher grazed on the grass around the fence that enclosed one of the closest paddocks. Neither seemed too concerned about what was going on, even when the stable hand dropped a bucket and made quite a bit of racket.

“I think we made the right choice here.” Matt nodded his head in agreement and wandered over to where the young male was lounging on his horse. Jace turned his head to the side and smiled before pushing himself up into a sitting position, arching his smooth back in a stretch.

“So you like him, do you?” Matt asked, taking Soul Catcher by the lead line and guiding the horse towards the trailer.

“I love him!”

“Then it’s a good thing Kaeden just purchased him for you, isn’t it?” Jace grinned, barely letting Matt stop his horse before he had slid to the ground and all but tackled Kaeden in a hug. The blonde simply smiled and held Jace close, keeping him from bouncing up and down against him in a fit of happiness.

“All I want is to see you happy.”

“I’m going to be the best, most happiest, amazing horse owner you’ve ever seen!”

“I know you will, and I know you’ll ask for help at the stables if you need it. Just because you have a horse now doesn’t mean you can’t skimp on your work, don’t forget that.” Kaeden pressed a soft kiss to the top of Jace’s head, knowing his possible boyfriend would do the right thing.   
Every day spent with Jace made Kaeden forget just what Jace was, and that was the best thing Kaeden had ever felt. In the beginning Jace had been simply a purchase from Pet Palace, and now Kaeden was feeling the most at home he had ever felt with someone, including his family.

“Thinking about something specific?” Kaeden blinked and shook his head some, smiling down at the red head in his arms.

“I’m fine,” he assured Jace. “You better make sure your new friend is settled into the trailer alright.” Jace spun and all but bolted to the back of the horse trailer, eagerly helping the stable hand make Soul Catcher comfortable.

“Think he’s going to be able to handle all this responsibility while you’re gone Kaeden?” Matt rested a hand on the blonde’s shoulder, smiling as the last of the horse items were loaded up.

“The people at Kellen Stables will take care of him, but I can admit that it feels weird to be leaving him. The last two months have changed me so much, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without Jace by my side.”

 

While Kaeden was away on whatever business he did, Jace realized that their house was incredibly empty without him. No longer was Jace able to wander into the room that had been designated Kaeden’s study and find the blonde working diligently on his laptop. No one was around to remind Jace to power down at night and ‘sleep’, instead of being up at all hours simply wandering around the house, or watching TV. Even working longer hours at the stables, and spending even more time with Soul Catcher before and after he worked, Jace still found himself feeling lonely.

“Maybe I could just spend my nights at the stables too...” he mused to himself, sitting alone at the kitchen table. Seeing as he didn’t eat unless he was in public, Jace had to remind himself that there was no need to buy food. He also had to tell himself to limit just how much he exerted himself when he was at the stables, as no one knew that he was really a PET System, not a real human.

“I think they might get suspicious if I never sleep...” The red head wasn’t sure when he had started talking to himself, but he assumed that it was what happened to anyone who was left alone with no one else to interact with. The phone ringing beside him made Jace come out of the sort of trance he had been in, fumbling to grab the cordless phone that was mounted above the counter.

“Hello?”

“Hey my pretty boy, did you miss me?”

“Kaeden!” Jace’s voice carried through the house, and he reminded himself that Kaeden was probably holding the phone away from his ear as they spoke.

“Is that a yes?”

“I’ve missed you so much,” he confessed, sitting himself up on the counter, long legs crossed under himself.

“I’m sorry that I’m gone so long, but it’s all worth it, so don’t worry. How are you doing?” Jace could hear Kaeden shifting around, and assumed that the blonde was settling himself in for a good conversation.

“I’m randomly talking to myself.”

“And maybe spending a little too much time at the stables?” Jace frowned some, wondering how Kaeden would know that.

“I called the stables to check in on you and Soul, and they admitted that you were spending a great deal of time there. More than usual, and they were a little worried about you. I had to explain that you weren’t used to being alone, and that I was out of town for business.”

“Are they mad at me?” Jace chewed on his bottom lip, shifting his hips to pull one knee against his chest. “I didn’t mean to upset anyone...”

“They don’t know that you are what you are Jace, so they think it’s just a human response to being truly alone for the first time. Maybe you should start going into town more often and maybe meet some new friends?” Kaeden suggested, wishing he could be there to assure the red head that everything was going to be okay.

“I don’t want new friends,” Jace admitted. “I just want to be with you!”

“I know Jace, but in order for me to keep money in the bank, I have to keep working.”

“You have millions!” Jace almost cried, and he actually heard Kaeden wince. The red head mumbled an apology, gently sighing.

“It’s okay Jace, I know you mean well. I love my job, and it isn’t very often that I’m called out of town on business, so I know that you and I can get through this. I just wanted to make sure that everything was going okay with you, and that you weren’t going crazy. Promise me that you’ll spend more time away from the stables? I’m not saying stop going, I just want you to work a normal shift again, and not to overwork Soul when you ride him.”

“Are you trying to punish me?” Jace asked in a small voice, and Kaeden laughed at him.

“This isn’t a punishment Jace! I just don’t want you to over work yourself,” Kaeden assured him. “You're not a machine; at least, not that anyone else has to know.”

“Can we go riding when you come home?”

“Of course we can, but you have to teach me how to ride. I’m not as naturally talented as you are.”

“Can you come home soon?”

“Just a few more weeks, and I’ll be back with you. Don’t worry.” Jace said goodbye and hung up, heaving a large sigh.

 

“So you’re sure that you want to do this?” Jace counted out the cash he had gotten from the nearest ATM via the credit card that Kaeden had left for him. The red head wasn’t sure how his skin would handle what he was about to do, but he wanted a change from what Kaeden had created. The blonde had always told Jace to be in own person, and this was going to be Jace’s first step towards making his own choices and changing himself to be the person he wanted to be.

“Of course I’m sure that this is what I want to do,” Jace assured the man in front of him. “Are you sure that this is going to work? You said you’ve worked with PETS skin before, so I figured that you wouldn’t have a problem with me.” The young man smiled and rang up the charges Jace was making, not bothering to recount the money.

“My name is Alukai, and I’ll do my best to make everything perfect for you,” he said with a smile, motioning for the young male in front of him to follow him back to one of the private rooms. Jace didn’t take notice of the other body modification professionals watching them as he walked back, his mind on what he was about to get done.

“I know that PET System skin is easy to be removed and replaced if I change my mind, but is it something you see happening often?” Alukai shook his head, helping the red head sit himself on the sterilized, yet very comfortable chair that he had set up.

“Not on self inflicted change,” he answered honestly. “But most PET System’s don’t have the freedom you’ve been given, and their owners tend to make changes every year or so. You’re one of the lucky ones.” Jace smiled, knowing that what Alukai was saying was very true.

“How long have you been with your owner?”

“Almost four months now, but he’s been away on business for nearly six weeks. I wanted to do this before he got back home, so I could surprise him,” Jace explained. Alukai set a tray on his lap, showing him all the different designs he had for the different piercings Jace was going to get. The red head pointed to the simple gold hoop he wanted for his upper ear, and a golden barbell with a small green gem on the top for his navel.

“You sound like you’re more than just a play thing for him,” Alukai commented, setting the tray aside and retrieving the sterilized jewellery from one of his many drawers.

“We’re in love,” Jace said with a smiled, pulling his long hair to one side to prepare for getting his ear pierced. “We’ve been taking it slow, and Kaeden doesn’t like to be reminded that I’m not really human. I don’t think he’s ever been this happy, and I’m glad that I’m the cause of all this happiness.” Alukai smiled, always happy to hear when PETS were used for more than just sex and fake relationships. He cleaned his hands before putting on a pair of sterile gloves, and then proceeded to clean Jace’s ear carefully. Even though the red head wasn’t human, and it wasn’t possible for the piercing to become infected, it was a standard procedure no matter who he worked on.

“Are you still thinking about getting a tattoo?” he asked, not bothering to warn the red head as he pushed his piercing needle through the firm synthetic PET System skin of his upper ear. Jace shrugged his shoulders some, keeping still as the piercing was inserted into his ear in the place of the needle.

“I think that’s something I’m really going to think on,” he answered honestly. Alukai had the red head tug up the bottom of his shirt, smiling at the sight of Jace’s flat stomach and perfectly crafted naval.

“Pet Palace really makes you guys perfect, don’t they?” Jace blushed, looking away ever so slightly. He squirmed absently when Alukai started cleaning his naval, before settling down and watching as Alukai prepared the needle and the piercing.

“How come you guys can feel pleasure and pain, but only when your owners inflict it on you?”

“It’s something some of us are given the ability to change, while others aren’t, depending on what their owners want them to be able to do,” Jace tried to explain. “I’m one of the more free designs that Pet Palace can program, so I can switch my synthetic nervous system off and on whenever I want to. Other PETS, ones built strictly for pleasure or for people to use and abuse, don’t have the ability to do that. It’s one of the more complicated aspects to the designs that Pet Palace puts out.” Alukai nodded his head, finishing up the naval piercing and checking the skin to make sure that he hadn’t accidently torn anything that didn’t need to be torn.

“Think we could get together and talk about this some more some other time?”

“Like a date?” Jace raised one eyebrow, watching the male standing over him. “I just told you that Kaeden and I are in love, so I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“I want thinking more along the lines of friends,” Alukai admitted, disposing of the used instruments and peeling off his gloves, tossing the powder free latex into the trash can.

“I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions...”

“But it happens, and that’s alright. I’m kind of flattered that you’d even think thoughts like that about me, even if they were misguided.”

“Maybe we could do lunch, or coffee, or something along those lines?” Jace offered, sliding off the chair and brushing his hair back from his face. Alukai smiled and nodded, leading Jace back out to the front of the store, ignoring the looks he was getting from his other coworkers. He knew that most of them were thinking that he had been getting some sort of sexual favours from Jace, but he wasn’t going to admit or deny anything that had happened. He made sure to write down his telephone number for Jace, before waving the red head off.

“Was he a good lay?”

“Shut up Allan! All he wanted was a few piercings, and that’s all I’m going to say!” The other people around Alukai snickered and shook their heads, returning to their customers.

 

Jace’s next stop was a hair salon, where he showed the lady behind the counter which style he would like. She had looked at him, and the picture, for nearly five minutes before nodding her head and finding him a seat.

“I can’t believe you want to cut all this beautiful hair.”

“I want a new look for when my boyfriend comes home.” The girl instantly starting cooing over the red head, asking questions about Kaeden and wanting to know how they met, and everything else she could think of. Relationship talk always seemed to bring out the best in whoever was doing your hair, and Jace hoped that it would be enough to keep the woman from constantly asking him if he really wanted to cut his hair. While it was still going to be long, it wasn’t going to touch his slender hips any longer.

“This is going to be such a great surprise!” Jace wasn’t even paying attention to the woman as she went on and on about her own boyfriend, simply making sure that she gave him the cut that he had wanted. It was a rather flattering cut, and Jace knew that it wouldn’t be hard to grow it back out if he decided that it wasn’t actually what he had wanted, or if Kaeden hated it.

“There! All done! You look great!” the woman gushed, and Jace turned his head from side to side to see what had been done. It was still past his shoulders, and had several layers that framed his lightly tanned face.

“It’s perfect, thank you,” was his only response. He paid and tipped the woman accordingly, before heading back out to the truck Kaeden had left for him to drive. He wasn’t going to stick around for the woman to try and sell him one of the numerous hair products that they had in stock. PET System hair was naturally perfect, and using human hair products was actually something that ruined PET System hair. Now, the only thing left on Jace’s mind was how Kaeden would react to the red head changing his appearance.

“He should be home tomorrow, as long as everything goes well,” Jace mumbled, getting into the driver’s seat and buckling his seat belt. “That’s just enough time for me to get one last thing done, and make the house feel even more like a home.” Starting the truck, Jace consulted his on board navigation system and made sure he understood where he was heading before shifting into gear and pulling out on to the street. Hopefully Kaeden wasn’t going to be mad at him for anything he had done, but it was all for a good cause. The red head’s next stop was the local animal shelter, where the people running the front desk smiled at him.

“Looking for something specific?” one woman asked, and Jace nodded.

“I’m looking for a kitten, or two. I know kittens don’t last long here, but I would rather adopt a pet from here, than the pet store.” The lady smiled and stood from her desk, leading the read head back to the area they were holding the cats. There were multiple cages with multiple cats of all different breeds and ages, and Jace wished he could adopt them all.

“You’re a very lucky young man,” she told him, showing him to the furthest cage. “We just got these little guys back from the vet this morning. They’re all fixed, vaccinated, and finally ready to be adopted by a loving family.” Jace peered into the cage that held the kittens, and smiled when he came face to face with two adorable kittens. Both had short hair, but one was white and the other was a creamy orange color, both with big eyes.

“Are they brothers?”

“Sisters, actually,” the lady informed him. “They’re still a little shaky from being at the vet, but they have beautiful personalities, I assure you.”

“I’ll take them both.”

“Wonderful!” With gentle hands, Jace accepted both kittens into his arms, and followed the lady out to the front. He could feel tiny claws gripping his sweatshirt, and made sure to hold the kittens close so they wouldn’t be afraid of falling or being dropped. It took Jace several minutes to fill out the paperwork and count out the money he needed to purchase the new additions to his and Kaeden’s growing family, along with a cardboard cat box to carry the scared little kittens in.

“Thank you so much for choosing to adopt from us.” Jace smiled, stroking his fingers over the soft fur of his new kittens.

“I can’t imagine not coming here to give an animal a loving home,” he told both the ladies working in the front. They waved to him as he slipped out the front door, holding the cat carrying box close to his chest.

“Just a few more stops and you guys will be at your new home.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kaeden arrived home only eighteen hours later, yawning as he stepped through the security check point at the airport. He was surprised when he spotted Jace waiting by the baggage claim area, and all his drowsiness vanished as he curled his arms around the red head. It took him a moment to realize that Jace had cut his hair, among other things, and Kaeden ran his fingers through Jace’s hair.

“You cut it...”

“Do you like it?”

“You look beautiful,” Kaeden said with a smile. “What else have you done since I’ve been gone?” Jace pushed his hair back to show Kaeden the golden hoop that adorned the top of his left ear, followed by his naval ring.

“You’ve been a busy boy.”

“All for you,” Jace almost whispered, hugging himself against Kaeden with a happy smile. He had missed being in the blonde’s arms, and didn’t want to be away from Kaeden for so long.

“You’re so amazing... But I think we better get my suitcases and get out of the way of everyone before they start yelling at us.” Together they grabbed Kaeden’s suitcases off the baggage carousel, and headed out to where Jace had parked the truck. Kaeden couldn’t take his eyes off the red head, allowing himself to lag a few steps back just to watch the way Jace’s hips swayed when he walked.

“Enjoying yourself?” Jace asked over his shoulder, winking at the blonde walking behind him. They placed the luggage in the back seat before Kaeden pulled himself up into the passenger seat, too tired to drive himself back to the house.

“I thought maybe we could grab breakfast on the way home,” Jace offered, making sure the blonde buckled up before he headed out of the airport parking lot. Kaeden shook his head, simply resting himself back against his seat.

“I just want to go home Jace. Can we get lunch instead, after I take a nap?” Jace smiled at the blonde, happy to have Kaeden by his side once again.

“Sure, home now and food later,” he agreed. “I have a surprise for you at home anyways, and I hope that you like it.”

“Do I have to be awake for this surprise?”

“Well, yeah, but you can go to sleep as soon as it’s over!” Jace assured him, patting his hand against Kaeden’s thigh. It wasn’t that long before Jace was pulling into the driveway of their shared home, and once again Kaeden was sleeping in the passenger seat. It was like their first day together all over again, and it made Jace smile and shake his head, moving around to pack Kaeden into the house once again. This time he laid Kaeden on the couch and covered him up with one of the many blankets they had folded in a storage bin that doubled as a stylish coffee table. The luggage was the next thing to come in, and Jace had barely made it all the way in the front door when he noticed two furry objects moving around on the couch, and on top of Kaeden. Both kittens had managed to claw their way up on to the couch and settled themselves on top of the blonde, one on his stomach, and one on his chest. How the blonde hadn’t woken was a mystery, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that there were two animals laying on top of him.  
He probably doesn’t even feel them, Jace mused to himself. They aren’t exactly heavy, and Kaeden can be a pretty sound sleeper. The red head put everything of Kaeden’s away, dirty laundry going in the hamper, personal items in the bathroom, and everything else back in their proper drawers and in the closet. By the time he had gotten back down to the living room, Kaeden had shifted his arm to rest across his chest, right between the two sleeping kittens. Jace had waited until Kaeden had come home to name the kittens, not wanting to exclude his boyfriend from such an important moment, in Jace’s mind at least. He sat himself down in the couch opposite the one Kaeden was laying on, simply picking up a book and waiting for Kaeden to wake. Patience was something Jace had a lot of, and he knew that the anticipation of Kaeden discovering the kittens was going to be well worth it.

“You know, I can hear you turning those pages. I can’t sleep when I know you’re close by, waiting to bother me,” Kaeden mumbled barely a half an hour later, though he didn’t open his eyes to look over at the red head.

“You’re surprise is sitting on your chest,” Jace informed him, then added, “And on your stomach as well.” Kaeden frowned and blinked open his eyes, lifting his hand from its position between the two kittens. It took him a few moments to realize what was sitting on top of him, and the blonde gently rubbed his fingers over the soft head of the white kitten on his chest.

“You got us pets,” he whispered, lifting his other hand to pet the orange kitten on his stomach.

“I thought that it was time that our little family grew a little, and cats seemed like the right step forward to me,” Jace explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “I haven’t named them yet.”

“How long have you had them?”

“I picked them up from the animal shelter yesterday,” Jace informed the blonde across from him. “I wanted you to be home so we could choose names together.” Kaeden smiled, gently moving the white kitten off his chest and down onto his lap, followed shortly by the orange kitten as he sat up.

“What made you go through all these changes while I was gone?”

“I know that you want me to be my own person, and this is what I decided to do with myself while you were gone.” Jace shrugged his shoulders and moved to sit beside Kaeden, moving the orange kitten onto his lap.

“I want to call this one Felix,” he said with a smile. Kaeden returned the smile, constantly petting the white kitten who was sitting on his lap.

“And Izumi.”

“Izumi?”

“I don’t know, he looks like a little Asian kitty to me.” Jace laughed, resting his head on Kaeden’s shoulder.

“They’re actually both female,” he informed the blonde. “But then again, Felix isn’t really a good name for a girl, but it was the first name that came to me. It sounds right, but I suppose we can change it.”

“I like it just the way it is,” Kaeden smiled, leaning his cheek against the top of Jace’s head.

“Don’t go away again...”

“I shouldn’t be gone for a long time, so don’t worry. For the next few months I’ll be working at the office here in town.”

 

Months slowly slipped by and Kaeden had indeed been able to stay in the city instead of travelling on business. He had also taken up riding so he could spend more time with Jace, doing things that they both enjoyed. While he wasn’t a natural born rider like Jace had been, the blonde tried his best and found himself falling more and more in love with Jace.

“Come on! It’s the first snow fall and I can’t wait to ride in the powder!” Kaeden laughed, barely out of his truck as Jace sprinted towards the stables.

“Be careful you silly thing!” he called, making sure to lock his truck before he followed along. “Snow is slippery!” Jace simply vanished into the stables ahead of his boyfriend, excited to get moving on their first romantic snow ride of their relationship. Matt peered out of his office as Jace speed walked past, turning his head to observe Kaeden’s entrance into the stables, laughing at the blonde.

“He’s a southern boy is he?” Kaeden nodded, shaking his head with a large smile.

“He’s never seen snow before, so when he woke up to it this morning, I thought he was going to pee himself he was so excited.” The two shared a laugh and Kaeden continued down the stable aisle to find his boyfriend collecting their tack for the upcoming ride.

“I booked Switzer for you, because I know you like him the best,” Jace said with a smile, passing a saddle, saddle blanket, and bridle to the blonde as he passed. Kaeden barely had time to grab the bucket containing his horses grooming tools before he hurried after Jace once again.

“You’re way too excitable,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes at the red head. Jace simply stuck out his tongue, carefully balancing his tack on the edge of Soul Catcher’s stall door before he clipped a lead line to his large stallion’s halter and moved him out into the middle of the aisle. Kaeden was familiar with how to groom and tack up his horse, but was a lot slower than Jace had been when it came to moving his horse for the day out to the ties that would hold him in the middle of the aisle as well.

“I can’t wait to get out there,” Jace admitted, smoothing a brush over Soul Catcher’s back. Kaeden smiled, copying the red head’s movements and brushing Switzer as well, making sure there wasn’t going to be anything that would irritate the horse once he put the saddle blanket on. He knew that Jace was keeping an eye on him, even if it didn’t look like he was, the red head making sure that Kaeden did everything right before their first winter ride together. The blonde didn’t want to mess anything up either, especially when Jace was so excited to be going out into the snow for the first time. Even though there wasn’t more than two or three inches snow on the ground, Jace had managed to make a small snow man and as many snow balls as was possible in their yard.

“You’re so slow,” Jace teased, cinching the last strap under Soul Catcher’s stomach and making his way to stand beside his boyfriend. The younger male curled his arms around Kaeden’s waist, gently resting his chin on the blonde’s should as he simply held Kaeden against himself. By now, the stable was more than used to the small displays of affection between the two males, and thanks to Matt, no one dared say anything bad about the two. Love was love, and no one was allowed to choose what was right and wrong, and that kept the stable from breaking into wars for and against same sex relationships.

“I’m just happy to be with you,” Kaeden said with a smile, nuzzling his cheek against Jace’s before he had to step away and finish saddling and bridling Switzer. He followed Jace out of the stable with a smile, more excited than he had let on but not wanting to take away from the fun of Jace’s first experience with snow.  
“Where are we heading? I’ve been on almost all the trails with you, so are you showing me something new?”

“Not really, but we’re going to only take the short trail because of the weather,” Jace informed him, leading Soul Catcher through the gate that allowed them access to the start of what was nearly twenty different trails of varying lengths. He waited until Kaeden had walked his horse through before making sure the gate was closed and pulling his reins over Soul’s head. Jace swung gracefully onto his horses back, while Kaeden was more of a scrambler, trying not to simply drop himself down on Switzer’s back when he finally managed to get into the saddle.

“I’m going to have to give you some more mounting lessons,” Jace smiled, nudging Soul gently with his heels. Kaeden followed along, trusting Jace to keep him from doing anything too stupid.

“My mind is one hundred percent in the gutter right now,” he admitted. Jace laughed, letting out puffs of steam in the cold air. The sound of the horses hooves on the fresh snow was rather relaxing, Kaeden sitting back lightly in the saddle as they passed under frost covered trees and over the snow covered ground.

“Isn’t this great?” Jace had shortened Soul Catcher’s large strides to come to walk side by side with Kaeden, smiling at the relaxed look on the blonde’s face.

“It’s amazing,” Kaeden admitted. “I’m glad you thought about this.” The time away from work and the city was something that was always welcomed, and Kaeden couldn’t imagine spending it any other way.

“I’m just glad that Matt doesn’t mind that we come and go as we please, even when the stables aren’t really open.” Jace leaned over to press his lips to Kaeden’s air cooled cheek, careful not to fall over completely.

“Are you warm enough?” he asked, having taken note of the way the temperature was getting cooler as they road. What once had been clear blue sky and sun had turned into clouds and growing darkness, and Jace was worried that Kaeden wasn’t dressed warm enough for the change in temperature.

“I’m good for now, but my fingers are getting cold.”

“We can turn around.” Jace waited until Kaeden had turned Switzer around before following with Soul Catcher, proud that he had taught his beloved stallion to turn by a simply touch of the reins against his neck. He was proud of his blonde boyfriend for being so adventurous, and knew that this was something that he was always going to remember.

“Do you think it’s going to snow?” Kaeden peered up at the sky, frowning at the darkening clouds that were moving quickly across the sky.

“Yeah... and it might just be a bad one,” he admitted. Both boys nudged their horses into a gentle trot, but were careful of the snow covered ground under them, not wanting to have any sort of an accident.

“Do you get blizzards here?”

“Yeah, but they’ve never looked this bad before. I’ve only seen clouds like this when there’s going to be a tornado, or something like that. We’re going to get an insane amount of snow today, and it’s going to make people go crazy. I’m glad that we stocked up on groceries yesterday, just in case we lose power or can’t get around town.” Jace caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes, and he jerked Soul Catcher to the side to avoid whatever was bolting out of the woods. Kaeden had spotted the movement as well, but wasn’t as quick to respond as the red head who had been behind him. Switzer reared up as a large Black Bear came into view, making its way out of the woods that had been on either side of the riding trail. Soul Catcher was spooked by the sudden movement as well, and while Jace had experience with horses rearing and jerking around while being ridden, Kaeden didn’t. The blonde was tossed off Switzer’s back and onto the ground, sliding slightly in the snow as the smaller horse he had been riding bolted off down the trail. Jace barely had time to rein in Soul Catcher before he turned his large stallion around, charging at the bear in an effort to keep it from attacking Kaeden’s unmoving body on the ground. Thankful that he had a horse that was brave enough to obey its owners demand to charge at a wild animal, Jace let out a loud shout as the bear scrambled off. The red head wasn’t able to see how far the bear had gone, but he knew that he had better things to think about. Switzer was long gone, and Kaeden still hadn’t picked himself up from the ground, and that made Jace more worried than the bear had. He slid himself down off Soul Catcher and raced to Kaeden’s side, careful not to jostle his boyfriend in case his spine had been injured by the fall.

“Kaeden... Oh man... Kaeden!” Jace dropped to his knees, leaning over Kaeden’s fallen body to check to make sure that the blonde was still breathing. Luckily, there wasn’t any blood that Jace could see, and the blonde was breathing, but he wasn’t responsive.

“Shit...” The red head whimpered a little, unsure what to do with his unconscious lover. Leaving him could mean that he would be eaten by the bear that was probably still lurking in the woods, or that he would freeze to death in the impending blizzard.

“I didn’t even think to bring a cell phone... Why didn’t I think about the phone? I always take my phone with me...” Jace blew out a breath and shed his jacket, covering Kaeden in an effort to keep him warm. He moved to his feet and grabbed Soul Catcher’s reigns, leading the horse closer to Kaeden’s fallen body, making sure his horse didn’t run off on him.

“Here’s hoping that Switzer went back to the stables and Matt has figured out what happened,” Jace mumbled, loosening the large horses saddle and removing it in order to gain access to the heavy blanket that was underneath. He had never been so happy to have adapted his riding to the western style, instead of the already padding English saddles. Once again he covered Kaeden, hoping that his lover wouldn’t freeze to death before someone found them.

“I wish I could generate heat...” It took the red head a moment to realize that it had started to snow, and Jace let out another whimpering sound. The wind was blowing the snow at what could be called a forty degree angle, and it wasn’t helping their situation in any way, shape, or form.

“I’m going to have to move you Kaeden... We aren’t safe out here, and you’re going to freeze to death if I don’t get you out of this wind.” Not caring that his two thousand dollar saddle was sitting on the ground, Jace trusted Soul Catcher to simply follow along as the red head carefully picked up his still unresponsive blonde boyfriend, and began the task of packing Kaeden towards the stables. They were nearly three miles away, and with the wind and snow it was going to be the longest trip of Jace’s life. Every step he took made him worry that he was injuring Kaeden even further, and while it would have been easier to ride Soul Catcher back to the stables, Jace was sure that the jarring movement of riding was going to do more damage than his own smoother walking pace.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he promised, using his body to shield Kaeden was best he could as he walked. With every step he assured himself that Matt was going to come looking for them at any moment, or that the weather would let up before he wasn’t able to walk anymore. They were farfetched ideas, and there wasn’t even a guarantee that Switzer had made it made to the stables, and that was something that worried the red head as well. Each time Jace started to slow down, Soul Catcher would nudge his nose against his owners back, urging him to continue forward despite the snow that was covering the ground. It was starting to build up on his shoes and it was making it harder and harder for the red head to keep walking.

“We’re almost there...” he kept repeating to himself, holding Kaeden closer to his chest. The weather was only getting worse, an Jace was beginning to become worried that he was never going to get back to the stables in time. Kaeden wasn’t waking up, and the blonde’s breathing had become more and more shallow, making Jace struggle against the emotions welling inside him. Kaeden was everything to him, and even though he wasn’t human, Jace couldn’t imagine continuing to live without Kaeden in his life.

“Even if keep going, I might lose you,” Jace mumbled. “Soon you aren’t going to wake up, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.” A small voice in the back of his mechanical mind reminded him that, as the weather got worse and the wind got colder, Soul Catcher would be in danger as well.

“All because I wanted to do something romantic together...” By now the snow was over Jace’s ankles, and he knew there was no way he was going to make it home. The red head turned his body towards the woods, pushing himself to continue forward and into the relative shelter of the trees. He honestly wasn’t surprised when he felt Soul Catcher once again nudging him forward, juggling Kaeden in his arms to fight with some of the smaller trees. Jace laid Kaeden on the snow and quickly moved from tree to tree, breaking off as many small trees and branches as he could. He hoped that Kaeden could hold on a little longer, digging out a space in the snow before leaning and crisscrossing the branches together. There wasn’t time to check that the small shelter would be strong enough to withstand the wind, the red head struggling to get Kaeden’s body under the branches and out of the wind. He cast one sad glance at his beautiful stallion before crawling under the low branches as well, rearranging his jacket, and Soul Catcher’s horse blanket over the blonde’s unconscious body. Although he knew he couldn’t honestly generate body heat, the red head gently rubbed his hands over Kaeden’s ice cold cheeks in an attempt to restore some of the blood flow.

“Matt will come find us soon... Everything is going to be okay baby... I won’t let you die out here, I swear it.”

 

The roar of a snowmobile jerked Jace out of the sleep mode he had sank in to, his body curled around Kaeden’s. The wind had stopped blowing and there was what looked to be nearly three feet of snow on the ground, and on top of the low shelter Jace had built in an effort to keep Kaeden safe.

“Jace! Kaeden! Are you guys out here?” Jace twisted his head, struggling to make his frozen synthetic skin move after being in the cold for so long.

“M-Matt...” his voice croaked, and he had to force himself to try again.

“Matt!” His entire body was stiff, carefully prying himself apart from Kaeden and pushing at the branches above them. It took some effort, but he felt the snow begin to shift and forced his frozen synthetic muscles to work even harder.

“Jace!”

“Matt! We’re here!” he shouted, knowing that his voice was probably muffled by the layer of snow on top of the small shelter.

“I see you buddy! I’m coming!” Jace’s sharp ears caught the sound of Matt approaching on foot, and struggled against the snow on top of the branches once again. It took time, but Matt was able to help dig out the shelter, his eyes going wide when he saw Kaeden’s unmoving body.

“Is he...” Jace shook his head, gently lifting Kaeden up out of the snow crater they were in. Matt gathered the blonde into his arms, amazed that he was still breathing after being out in the cold for so long.

“Take him home, I’ll walk back,” Jace told him. Matt was about to protest when he noticed that Jace wasn’t wearing a jacket, and that multiple places on his skin had split open.

“I’m a PET System and don’t feel the cold. Just get Kaeden to a hospital and don’t worry about me!” There wasn’t really time for Matt to say anything else, the older man carrying Kaeden to the sled he had attached to the back of his snowmobile. Taking one last look at the red head standing in the snow, Matt started his machine and took off back towards the house. Jace heaved a sigh and lowered his head, kicking the snow behind him a little. The red head let out a shout when Soul Catcher suddenly lifted himself out of the mound of snow he had been covered in, shaking his frosty coat.

“Holy crap! You stayed the whole time, and you’re alive!” Jace cried, throwing his arms around the large stallion’s cold neck. Soul Catcher blew out a loud breath and rubbed his nose against Jace’s shoulder, as if informing his master that he would have never left him alone. If the red head had been able to cry, he would have, gripping Soul Catcher’s stiff, snow frozen mane in his cracked hands.

“Let’s go home buddy... I’ll get you warmed up and make sure a vet sees you before I head to the hospital to be with Kaeden,” Jace forced out, moving around to Soul Catcher’s left side and pulling himself up on the stallions still snowy back. He didn’t have to worry about guiding Soul Catcher home, and Jace simply rested his body forward on his horses neck as they headed back towards the stables. His robotic body wasn’t used to the amount of time he had spent outside, and most likely he had done some sort of damage while being in the cold, but it was nothing compared to the damage done to Kaeden.

“Hey! Jace and Soul!” The red head jerked himself upright, nearly falling off of the large stallions back as he looked around to see who had called out to him. Another group of riders were making their way towards him, probably sent out by Matt when the older man had returned to the stables.

“I can’t believe you really are alive man!” Jace recognized the riders as the advanced team he had been training with, as well as the body modification expert he had made friends with months earlier.

“Alukai...” The young man had been the only person other than Kaeden to know that Jace wasn’t really human, but the wounds on his body were going to give that away in a heartbeat.

“We would have been out sooner, but the weather was so bad that we couldn’t do anything,” Alukai explained, looping a rope around Soul Catcher’s neck to aid in guiding the horse back home.

“Kaeden?”

“Matt took him to the hospital,” Alukai assured him. “I told him that I’d just bring you in, and the others are going to take care of the horses at the stables. Everything hit so fast that some of the horses ended up staying out all night.” Jace closed his eyes, knowing that there had probably been a loss of lives when it came to the horses.

“Soul spent the entire night in the snow with us,” he admitted. “I don’t know how he survived, but he did.” The red head patted Soul Catcher on the neck, so very proud of his fearless horse.

“We’ll take care of him,” one of the other riders told him. “Warm mash, a hot hose down, and a blanket.” Jace smiled and thanked the woman riding beside him, trusting them to make sure that everything would turn out okay. It was only twenty minutes before Jace, Alukai and the others made it back to the stable and Alukai handed off both Soul and his own stable horse to one of the other riders.

“I’ll take him in right now, you guys make sure we account for every horse.” While Alukai was still relatively new to riding, and the stables, he knew that someone needed to take charge while Matt was away. The others promised to call in every veterinarian that they could, just to make sure that all the horses were going to be okay. Jace didn’t understand why no one had questioned him about not wearing a jacket, or about the rough cracks in what used to be flawless skin, but there wasn’t honestly time for him to think about it. Alukai shuffled him towards the truck he had been driving, all but forcing the red head into the passenger seat before he scrambled around the truck into the driver’s seat.

“Once we check in on Kaeden, we can go about getting you fixed up.” Jace nodded, resting himself back against the wonderful heated seats that Alukai had in his truck.

“I told everyone not to ask you any questions,” Alukai continued. “You had a traumatizing night and I didn’t want anyone else bothering you.”

“Matt asked me...” Alukai nodded, patting a hand against Jace’s knee before continuing the drive into the city. He had spoken briefly to the older man when he had returned with Kaeden, informing him that he had known what Jace had been and had respected the red head’s want to keep such information a secret.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Alukai promised. “The fact that Kaeden was still breathing has to mean something. He’s a strong man, and I know you did everything you could to save him.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Jace mumbled. “Matt knows what I am, and I never wanted anyone to know what I am.” Alukai sighed softly, knowing all too well the fears of PET Systems who lived most of their electronic lives pretending they were truly human.

“I know I should have told you this before Jace, but I’m not human either. I’m a PET System from Pet Palace as well.” Jace’s green eyes went wide, and he twisted in his seat to stare at the brunette sitting beside him.

“I know, I know, I should have told you, but I don’t like people knowing, even if they’re PETS as well.” Alukai had to concentrate on the road in front of him, and it was bothering him that he couldn’t look over to see Jace.

“I guess when we don’t ever want to think of ourselves as anything but human, we tend to forget what we really are. How long have you been active?”

“Almost three years now. I’ve gotten so used to calling myself human that I don’t really think about being a PET System, even when I’m dealing with other PETS in my shop. No one has really questioned why I haven’t aged, and until they do, I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” Alukai explained. They were nearly to the hospital now, and the roads in the city were a lot better than they had been out in the country.

“I think right now I’d rather focus on Kaeden,” Jace admitted to him. “I mean, we’re friends, and I’m not going to hate you for not telling me. Especially right now when there are so many other things on my mind.” Alukai steered his truck into the hospital parking lot, spotting Matt’s large twenty year old Ford parked in the long term parking. The truck was barely stopped before Jace had all but thrown himself out of the passenger side, sprinting towards the doors of the emergency room.

“Jace!” Alukai cried, struggling with his keys to lock his truck before hurrying after the distressed red head, barely able to keep his footing on the slick snow covered ground. Jace had already vanished into the hospital when Alukai finally made it to the doors, but the red head hadn’t gotten past the check in station.

“He’s my boyfriend!” Jace insisted, standing in front of the glass enclosed check in station. “I was with him the entire night! I have every right to see him!” Alukai didn’t catch what the nurse was saying, but he was sure that she was turning Jace away because there wasn’t any physical proof that Jace and Kaeden were indeed lovers. The brunette gently curled his arms around Jace’s slender waist, making him take a step back and calm down.

“I apologize for my friend,” he told the nurse, honestly sincere in his apology. “He’s had a traumatizing night, and is pretty shaken up from what’s happened. Can you at least tell us if they know if Kaeden is going to be okay?” The nurse frowned, but licked a few things on her computer screen, reading over the information.

“I’m sorry, but there hasn’t been any information input into the computer about Mr. Lancaster,” she informed them. Alukai had to cover Jace’s mouth with his hand to keep the red head from shouting in frustration, keeping him firmly in his arms.

“Will you please inform us when there is some information?” he asked as politely as he could manage while holding Jace against his chest. The nurse eyed both of them before blowing out a long breath and nodding her head, motioning towards the waiting room.

“Stay in there, and if you make one sound I’ll have security escort you out.” Alukai thanked the older woman and half dragged Jace towards the waiting room, not releasing the red head from his arms until they were sitting down.

“Now smarten up and be good, or else you won’t get to see Kaeden at all,” he almost hissed, giving Jace a rather nasty look.

“But-” Jace tried to protest, but Alukai cut him off by putting a finger to his lips.

“Not a word of protest or I’ll lock you in my truck myself,” he threatened. Jace glared at the other male, but nodded his head and slumped back against the uncomfortable waiting room seat.


	4. Chapter 4

Several hours of waiting later, and with Jace resting his head on Alukai’s lap, a new nurse approached the two waiting young males.

“Are you the two waiting for news on Kaeden?” Jace scrambled to sit up the moment he had heard his lovers name, despite it looking as though he had been sleeping only seconds before.

“Is he okay?” 

“He still hasn’t woken up from the accident,” She explained. “But he hasn’t gotten any worse from what he was when he was brought in. At least, not that I can tell from the notes the doctors had made when he was first brought in by your friend Matt.”

“Is anything going to be amputated?” Jace asked, gripping one of Alukai’s hands in his own.

“We don’t know how he managed to survive at all, let alone without any serious damage to his skin,” she told them. “There may be some scarring from where his skin split in a few places, but nothing that required stitches. The doctors are focusing on keeping him warm and that he has blood flowing to all his fingers and toes. From there I can assume they’re just going to wait for him to wake up.”

“He hit his head really hard...” Jace told her.

“They noticed that the moment they x-rayed his body,” she agreed. “Nothing was broken, but his brain was shook up pretty badly. I’m sure you’ll be able to see him in a few hours, as soon as the doctors are sure that he’s going to be stable.” Jace was struggling to keep his robotic nervous system from causing him to shake with programmed emotions, gripping Alukai’s hand even tighter. The brunette spoke for the red head once again, thanking the nice nurse for all of her help, and for taking the time to let them know what had been going on.

“Why don’t you two go get something to eat?” she offered, motioning out the window to the local coffee shop that was across the street. Alukai knew that both he and Jace didn’t need to eat or drink, but the simple actions might just be calming. As the nurse headed back to the nursing station, Alukai pushed himself up from his seat and patted his hand against Jace’s shoulder.

“I’ll go get us some coffee and some snacks,” he said with a smile. “You stay here and behave, and I’ll be back as soon as possible.” Jace managed a small nod, pulling his knees against his chest. The emergency room was shockingly empty, and it made Jace wonder what was going on in the world when not one single person was in the emergency room complaining about something.

 

When the nurse approached the pair again, Alukai was repairing the damage done to Jace’s synthetic skin. Each split was patched with a PET System repair product that would eventually even itself out to the point where no one would be able to know that any damage had been done.

“Jace?” The red head looked up from the book he had been reading with his free hand, using his finger to keep his place.

“Yes?”

“You can see him now.” Alukai barely had time to lift the skin patching tool off Jace’s hand before the red head had jumped to his feet.

“I’ll stay here,” he told him, putting his tools away. “You take all the time you need and I’ll check in with everyone at the stables again.” Jace smiled at his friend, mouthing a thank you and following the nurse down the hallway towards the room where Kaeden was still sleeping.

“There hasn’t been any changes, but the doctors have assured me that he’s stable,” the nurse said with a smile. Jace managed to smile in return, thanking the nurse before he stepped into the hospital room. He quietly closed the door behind himself and made his way to the chair that was sitting beside Kaeden’s bed, sitting down quietly.

“Hey baby... It’s me, Jace...” The red head gently took Kaeden’s hand in his own, careful not to agitate the needles the doctors had placed and taped down.

“I’m so sorry that this happened. I never meant to put you in danger, and I should have known better than to take you out without checking the weather first. This is all my fault, and I wish it had been me who had been thrown.” Jace knew he was babbling, but he didn’t honestly want to sit in silence and stare at Kaeden’s unconscious body.

“This is all my fault, and I just want everything to be okay again. I want you to wake up and tell me you love me, and hold me in your arms.” With a shaky sigh, Jace laid his head down against Kaeden’s hand and closed his eyes, hoping with all his heart that everything would be okay again.

“I promise I’ll be here by your side until you wake up, and no matter what happens I’ll stick by you forever,” he mumbled. “All I want is to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Jace? Do you want me to get anything from your place for you?” Alukai peeked his head in the room, careful not to disturb the red head and his unresponsive lover.

“Can you feed Felix and Izumi for me?” he asked quietly, not bothering to lift his head or open his eyes. “They’re food is in the pantry, and they probably need their litter box changed.”

“I’ll take care of everything,” Alukai promised. “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll take care of it.” Jace mumbled a thank you, keeping his head resting against Kaeden’s hand. The brunette closed the door behind himself, knowing he didn’t need to bother saying goodbye. He did, however, thank the nurse on his way out to his truck, wanting to make sure that she knew how grateful Jace was for all of her help, and for everything they were doing for Kaeden. Alukai had only been to Jace’s home a handful of times, and absently worried that the gross weather would hinder him from getting out to the house. It took nearly an hour, and several wrong turns before Alukai pulled into Jace and Kaeden’s driveway, having to force his truck to move forward through the piled up snow.

“I’ll shovel their driveway while I’m here,” he mumbled to himself, making sure to put his trucks parking brake on before he stepped out into the snow. It was no surprise when the brunette found himself knee deep in the white stuff, and Alukai wrinkled his nose at the sensation against his synthetic skin. Luckily he was close in size to both Kaeden and Jace, so he was sure that he would be able to borrow some better winter clothing than the jeans and riding boots he was currently wearing. As he made his way through the snow to the front door, Alukai became aware of the fact that he didn’t have keys to get into the house, and hoped that Kaeden was one of those people who never bothered to set up a security system in his house. Trying to do as little damage as possible, and without drawing great attention to himself, Alukai gripped the door knob and turned it, forcing it to turn even though it had been locked. There was a loud crunching sound, and the brunette winced as he heard the real wood door crack under his assault, though he was happy that he was able to step inside and the door still closed behind him.

“I’ll fix that while I’m here too,” Alukai told himself, needing to prop the entry way table against the door in order for a seal to be formed and to prevent the cold air from getting inside. His first priority was to see to the cats, both Felix and Izumi meowing at him as he shed his outdoor clothing and made his way to the kitchen.

“Yes babies, I know, you’re both hungry,” he cooed to them, pulling open the pantry door and turning on the over head light. Felix scrambled up on to one of the shelves before launching herself up onto Alukai’s shoulder, making the brunette cry out in shock before he quickly gathered the orange kitten into his arms. He knew better than to shout at the poor thing, especially when it had been left alone for nearly twenty four hours, using a free hand to scoop up the container of cat food. Izumi wound herself around Alukai’s legs as he moved towards the set of dishes that looked to have been licked clean in the past few hours.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t get so clingy.” Gently setting Felix down on the ground with her sister, Alukai filled both of the food dishes and set the container up on the counter before gathering the empty water dishes in his hands. While Felix and Izumi ate eagerly, the brunette cleaned and refilled the water dishes, placing them back down on the floor. While neither kitten was able to speak, he knew that they were both grateful for the food and water, and that make Alukai happy. As the kittens ate, the brunette PET System shuffled around the house, making sure the litter box didn’t need to be changed and cleaning up anything that might have started to mold or go bad, depending on when Jace was able to return home. He knew the red head wouldn’t leave the hospital without Kaeden, and there was no telling when the blonde would wake up, let alone be able to leave the hospital and return home. Knowing that they were lucky to even have power considering the huge blizzard the night before, Alukai decided he was going to make the best of the time he had in the house, searching out the winter clothing that Jace and Kaeden had. He had to let himself out the back door in order to keep cold air from getting in the front door while he was outside, but at least it meant that he didn’t have to break anymore locks. After moving his truck out onto the street, Alukai began the task of shovelling the driveway, making sure not to move too quickly or to heave too much snow, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that he wasn’t human. It took almost three long hours, including forcing himself to take breaks to ‘warm up’ inside the house, but finally he finished the driveway and had even made himself a little path to get to the back door.

“Hey!” Alukai turned his head, holding his shovel over one shoulder. Someone was coming up the driveway, and instantly Alukai let his eyes trail up and down the body of the attractive male approaching him.

“Are Jace and Kaeden gone or something? They usually have me look after the house when they go out for a few days.” The boy looked about Jace’s age, roughly eighteen to twenty years old and Alukai instantly took a liking to him.

“Kaeden had a bit of an accident while out riding yesterday, and Jace asked me to take care of the place while he stays with Kaeden at the hospital,” Alukai told him, motioning towards the house. “Come inside and I’ll fill you in. Besides, it’s cold outside and I’m craving hot chocolate after being outside all day.” The boy nodded and followed the brunette into the house, frowning as they bypassed the front door and entered through the back door.

“How come we’re-” he started, but Alukai cut him off by ushering him in the house and closing the door before one of the growing kittens could make their escape through the open door.

“The door was frozen when I tried to get in, so I got a little rough with it,” he explained, motioning to the table that was braced against the door. “I have to leave the table there so the door will close all the way and can keep the cold out and the heat in. What’s your name anyways?” The boy sat down at the table, watching as Alukai bustled around the kitchen, putting on the kettle for their hot chocolate.

“My name is Darius,” the boy answered after several moments. “Darius James, and I live next door.”

“I gathered that, considering you seemed to come out of nowhere and appear in the driveway,” Alukai grinned, shaking a spoon at the younger male, waiting by the stove for the kettle to boil.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, if I did.” Alukai smiled, spooning the powdered hot chocolate powder into two separate cups.

“You didn’t scare me, but I wasn’t expecting to have anyone coming to the house today. I didn’t know that Jace and Kaeden had any other friends, but I guess I couldn’t be the only one Jace hung out with.” He added a hint of vanilla, cinnamon, and a shot of milk to the cups, swirling his spoon gently to start dissolving the powder before he even added the boiling water.

“Jace is really nice...” Darius said in a quiet voice. “Was Kaeden hurt badly?” Alukai nodded his head, lifting the kettle from the stove before it boiled completely and started to whistle, adding the water to each of the cups.

“He was tossed off the horse he was riding yesterday and banged his head. It was right when the blizzard hit us, so he and Jace were stuck out in the snow and cold all night, and Kaeden never woke up after his fall. We were all amazed when Matt called us in and told us what was going on, especially when he said that one of the horses had come racing back without either of them. Matt took Kaeden to the hospital after finding him with his snow mobile, and myself and a few others were heading out to find Jace,” Alukai explained, moving to the table and setting a cup in front of Darius. “Out of nowhere Jace and his horse, Soul Catcher, appeared on the trails! We have no idea how Jace and Kaeden survived, let alone Soul Catcher.” He sat down across from Darius, blowing lightly on his cup of hot chocolate.

“And Kaeden hasn’t woken up yet?” Darius asked, sipping gingerly on his own hot drink.

“Not as of when I left, and seeing as my cell phone hasn’t rang yet, I assume that he still hasn’t. Jace was so worried, and that makes me worried,” the brunette admitted, careful not to drink too quickly, seeing as he had the option to turn off the pain censors on his tongue.

“Are you one of those PET Systems?” Alukai nearly choked himself on his drink, inhaling so sharply that he spilt hot chocolate down the sides of his cup.

“It’s okay if you are,” Darius told him. “I know that Jace is one, and he’s a really great guy. So if you’re one too, I’m okay with that.”

“How did you guess?” The brunette was eager to learn how Darius had picked up on his true identity so quickly, especially when Alukai was so sure that he was hiding who he truly was.

“My parents used to have PETS as nannies and what not when I was growing up, and I kind of learned how to pick up on the subtle hints. It’s hard to spot, and you do an amazing job of hiding it, so I thought I’d just come out and ask you. The moment you nearly inhaled your drink, I knew that I had busted you. If you had simply looked at me funny, I would have kept thinking you were human,” Darius explained. The brunette across from him scowled lightly, though he wasn’t really all that angry with the other male’s discovery. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t needed to hide who he was from Jace, despite them never talking about being PETS.

“Does it really bother you that I figured it out?” Darius asked, sipping quietly on his hot chocolate. Alukai shook his head honestly, setting his mug down on the table.

“Not really,” he admitted. “I’m just not used to it, and sometimes I forget that some people are better at noticing than most. Your parents must have a good deal of money for you to have been raised with a PET System.” Darius nodded, then motioned to the house around them.

“I know that Kaeden has money too, but he chose not to flaunt it. We’re the same way, and I don’t think that will ever change. We never told anyone that our house keepers and nannies were PETS, and no one ever really needed to know. Pet Palace does an amazing job of making PETS look realistic, but it helps when the buyers want their PETS to act as normal as possible, instead of like slaves.”

“You’re strangely wise for being so young,” Alukai commented, making Darius blush ever so slightly.

“I have a lot of time on my hands,” he told the brunette. “There really aren’t a lot of people around my own age, so I spend my time simply thinking about things. When Jace moved in, I was so happy I thought I was going to tackle him the moment he came over and introduced himself. We’re both still technically teenagers, even though he won’t ever age and I feel like I’m already an adult.”

“I think you’re hot,” Alukai bluntly told him, enjoying the blush that spread over Darius’ pale cheeks once again.

“Don’t say things like that…”

“Well it’s true!” Alukai insisted. “You have the most amazing blue eyes.” Darius looked away, but Alukai simply reached across the table to gently turn his chin back towards him.

“Don’t look away when I’m complimenting you,” he said gently. “I mean every word I say, and even if you don’t think of me in the same way, I’m still attracted to you.”

“I’m not gay…” Darius mumbled, and Alukai released his chin, sitting back down in his chair.

“And that’s fine with me,” he told him. “I just wanted you to know how I felt about you, even if I really haven’t known you longer than the amount of time we’ve spent sitting here together.”

“I’ve never really thought about being with another guy before.” Alukai smiled at the young man across from him, assuring him that everything was going to be fine.

“I have a feeling I’m going to be over here a lot, so I’m sure we could just be friends. If you aren’t interested in me, or boys at all, then that’s fine. I mean, I’m just a robot, right? Just because I was programmed to think for myself doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to take care of myself if someone isn’t interested,” Alukai tried to reassure the ebony haired teenager. Darius managed a small smile, but obviously Alukai had struck a nerve somewhere during their little conversation.

“I just wanted to be honest with you.”

“I guess no one has ever been interested in me before.” Darius had continued to mumble, and Alukai had to smile at him, finding the boy to be so incredibly cute.

“How about we have some lunch, and maybe watch a movie of something,” Alukai offered, rising from the table to place his cup in the sink. Darius nodded a little, finishing the last of his rapidly cooling hot chocolate before he followed the brunette’s example and set his cup in the sink as well.

“How long are you going to stay today?”

“I’ll probably stay here until Kaeden comes back home, just because I know Jace won’t leave the hospital without him. I have to work, of course, but I’ll be back every night to take care of the cats and the rest of the house.” Darius leaned against the counter as Alukai searched through the fridge and cupboards for some sort of food to act as lunch for the two of them.

“How about I make lunch, and you set up the movie?” Darius offered, seeing as Alukai really didn’t need to eat. The brunette agreed, stepping out of the pantry and patting the other male on the shoulder.

“Deal. Do you have any movie preferences, or can I just pick something at random?” He asked.

“I’m not really a comedy person, but I’m sure whatever you pick will be fine,” Darius informed him, grabbing some vegetables and stir fry noodles out of the fridge. Jace loved Asian cuisine, and it had rubbed off on Darius with each hour he spent with his friend.

“Are you legal?”

“Uh, I’m eighteen, if that’s any help?” Darius offered.

“Then a horror movie it is!” Alukai all but cried, slipping out of the kitchen and down the small hallway to the living room. As Darius cooked lunch for himself, the brunette rooted through several hundred of Jace and Kaeden’s movies, amazed that the two had such an extensive collection.

“Alphabetical order… Everything by genre… Jace is a little too overly anal about filing,” he muttered to himself, eyeing the labelled cabinets and shelving in front of him. It didn’t take long to locate one of his favourite movies and start fighting with the television to get everything set up.

“I hope you like zombies!” he called to the kitchen. Darius laughed, wondering just how old Alukai was, considering the other male was acting like a hyper active teenager.

“You aren’t allowed to laugh at me if I get scared!” he called back, watching his vegetables carefully so they didn’t burn.

“Aw,” Alukai cooed. “I’ll protect you from the big bad zombies!” Darius hadn’t realized the other male had entered the kitchen, dropping his wooden spoon when Alukai wrapped his arms around his waist, nearly lifting the younger boy up off the floor in a giant hug. Both laughed, Alukai gently standing Darius back on his own two feet, though he didn’t release the boy from his arms.

“I really do like you,” he whispered, resting his chin against Darius’ shoulder, making the dark haired teenager shiver.

“You’re going to make me burn my vegetables,” Darius stammered out, though he didn’t pull himself out of Alukai’s strong arms.

“Spend the night tonight,” Alukai told him. “We can watch movies, and order pizza, and I’ll even make caramel corn and we can buy pop.”

“My parents might think something’s up. I only just met you today, and already you have your arms around me and are asking me to sleep with you.”

“I didn’t say we were going to sleep together!” Darius winced at Alukai’s voice in his ear, the brunette behind him taking a step back and staring at Darius with wide eyes.

“I’m just joking,” Darius said with a snicker, turning to face Alukai for a moment. “I’d love to spend the night.”

“The movie is ready whenever you are, then,” Alukai said with a smile, happy that Darius was comfortable enough to joke around with him. He decided to stay in the kitchen while Darius cooked, sitting himself up on the counter as he simply watched.

 

“Five days,” the doctor informed Jace, resting a hand on the persistent young man’s shoulder. “Kaeden has been in a coma for five days, but he’s still stable and that’s a good sign. He isn’t getting worse, and that’s all that matters.” Jace sighed softly, reading yet another book to pass the time, not wanting to leave Kaeden’s side for longer than he had to. The doctors were nice enough to let him stay in the room at all times, even if it really wasn’t allowed, and Jace assumed it was because he had been the one who had saved Kaeden’s life.

“He’s going to wake up soon,” Jace informed the doctor. The nice man simply forced a smile and left Jace to his reading, knowing the red head was reading out loud to try and trigger something in Kaeden’s mind to wake the blonde up. Everyone in the hospital was hoping to see Kaeden recover, mostly to spare Jace any more heartbreak than he was already feeling. Several nurses brought the boy books to read and even a small radio to listen to music, all becoming aware that Jace had no need to shower, change his clothes, or eat. Even the patients were aware of what was going on in room 317, and every so often someone would offer their condolences to the red head.

“How are you holding up?” Jace raised his eyes from his book once again, smiling a little as Alukai made his way into the hospital room.

“It’s been five days,” Jace said, and Alukai nodded as he came to stand beside his friend, gently stroking his fingers through Jace’s soft hair.

“I’m taking care of the house, so you don’t have to worry about a thing,” Alukai assured him. “I met your neighbour, Darius, and he promised to watch the house when I’m at work. He’s kind of cute, so I’m enjoying the time I spend at your place.” Jace had to laugh a little, motioning to the chair beside him.

“I’m glad you came,” he admitted. “Being alone with Kaeden has given me more than enough time to think about what’s happened. I’m glad having you here means I can think about other things.”

“Why don’t we go for a walk then?” Alukai offered. “We can wander around outside, take in some fresh air and clear your mind.” Jace was about to protest, but he knew that Alukai wasn’t going to let him get out of anything. Together they rose from their chairs, trusting the doctors to keep an eye on Kaeden as they left the room.

“Is there anything specific you want to talk about?” Alukai tried, leading Jace to the closest elevator. The red head shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, reaching out to take Alukai’s hand. The other male squeezed back gently, wishing he could do something more to make Jace okay again. They stayed quiet as the elevator took them down to the main level, and Alukai had to tug gently one Jace’s hand to get the red head moving again. He didn’t know what to say, making sure Jace didn’t slip on any of the snow on the outside sidewalk as they stepped out into the cool weather. There were two older patients sitting outside on the closest bench, and Alukai had to roll his eyes at the sight of them smoking cigarettes, even though they were hooked up to some sort of medications via IV needles.

“Some people are so stupid to allow themselves to get addicted to such idiotic things,” he muttered, walking Jace out to where he had parked his truck. He wasn’t surprised when Jace didn’t seem to react to him, unlocking his truck and gently helping the red head into the passenger seat.

“You need to talk to me, Jace,” Alukai pressed. “A few words, some questions, ranting, anything!” Jace simply shrugged his shoulders again, and Alukai had to restrain himself from shouting out in frustration.

“Talk to me or else I’m pulling out of this parking lot, taking you home, and tying you to the couch!” he threatened. He was faster than Jace when it came to stopping the red head from getting out of the truck, locking the door from his driver’s side and turning on the child safety locks, which made it impossible for Jace to let himself out.

“You’re mine now, so start talking to me.” Jace clenched his fists at his sides, holding himself back from simply turning and beating on Alukai with his fists.

“I don’t want him to die,” he muttered, and Alukai rolled his eyes once again.

“Well that’s an obvious answer. Tell me something that I don’t already know,” Alukai pressed on, gently resting a hand on Jace’s shoulder. “Has he responded to anything? A touch, your voice, anything?” Jace shook his head, pulling his knees up against his chest.

“I’ve been reading to him,” he told the brunette beside him. “Hoping my voice would bring him out of his coma, you know?” Alukai nodded, turning his body so he could face Jace, despite the awkward position he created seeing as he was pressed against his steering wheel.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do if he never wakes up,” Jace mumbled. “Kaeden means the world to me, and without him, I don’t have any purpose in life. I was created to be his, so what happens if he dies?”

“You can either return to Pet Palace and be deactivated, or you essentially become a free PET System and continue on with your life,” Alukai said softly. “I chose the second option when my master was murdered in front of me.”

“How long have you been alone?” Jace asked quietly, pulling his long legs under himself as he turned to press his back against the passenger side door.

“Almost as long as I’ve been active,” Alukai admitted. “I had only been in operation for a few months before my master was murdered, and I fled from the house in fear. I was naive and young back then, and from that point on my mind grew and expanded into what you see now. My master too chose to give me the more human option of life, and I wasn’t going to destroy myself when he died. Instead, I took this name he has given me, and made a life for myself. I’m proof that PETS can survive after their masters die, even when they’re left alone to fend for themselves.”

“Will you take me in if I lose Kaeden?” Jace’s voice was very quiet, and it hurt Alukai so much to see the pretty red head hurting so much.

“Kaeden is going to be fine, but if it comes to that, of course I’ll take you in. Do you know if Kaeden left a Will?” Jace nodded, watching his hands as they rested on his lap.

“He left everything to me,” he told Alukai. “Money, his business, everything.” Alukai wasn’t really sure what Kaeden did for a living, but now really wasn’t the time for him to be prying so much into their personal lives.

“That’s good to know.” Alukai glanced over his shoulder to look at the hospital, and the third floor they had came from.

“Do you want to go back to his room now?” he asked softly, surprised when Jace shook his head and simply closed his eyes, leaning against the door.

“Can you hold me?”

“Of course Jace...” The brunette shifted in his seat, taking Jace into his arms and simply sitting in silence. He knew the hurt that came from losing someone you loved, and even if Kaeden hadn’t actually died, the pain was still very real.

 

Darius smoothed a hand through his shaggy hair as he waited by the newly fixed front door of Jace and Kaeden’s home, holding a stack of mail in his hands and wearing a worried look on his face. Alukai had raced off to the hospital with horrible news for Jace regarding a letter he had received, and now Darius held a similar envelope in his hands. This envelope was addressed to Jace, and it make Darius sick to his stomach to think that it could be the same letter that Alukai had received a day earlier. He had been waiting in the same position for nearly two long hours, and the ebony haired young man knew he wasn’t going to move until Alukai was back at his side. Shaking hands held the letter with Jace’s name on it, and he prayed with all his heart that the letters being sent out were some sort of elaborate hoax, even if the papers looking incredibly authentic.

“Please come home soon Alukai...” he whispered, pressing one hand to the glass window that bordered the front door, watching through the lightly falling snow that swirled in the wind outside. He knew it was none of his business to open Jace’s mail, but the tension was starting to really get to him. According to what Alukai had let him read, the government had chosen to start recruiting PETS, instead of regular humans. This meant that any and all PETS the government could find were being drafted into the apparent war they had fallen in to, and like any other draft there was no room for arguing.

“This can’t be true... They can’t make choices like this... The fighting was supposed to have stop years ago!” Darius’ voice carried in the otherwise empty house, and it made the dark haired teen close his eyes and struggle to hold back tears. He had never heard about any sort of war, and he worried that this was just some cruel joke.

“Or a way to eliminate the PET Systems... Maybe another company wants to put Pet Palace out of business, or something.” He was trying to work out a logical reason for what was going on, sighing softly as more snow floated towards the ground. While he still wasn’t sure about his relationship with Alukai, and his feelings towards other males, Darius knew that he felt incredibly close to the brunette, and wanted nothing more than to know that everything was going to be okay. It was bad enough that Kaeden was still unresponsive, but to think that the blonde could wake up to learn that Jace was gone, it was something Darius didn’t want to think of. He raven haired young male was lost in his thoughts and nearly jumped out of his skin when the front door suddenly popped open, letting out a surprised cry of shock. Alukai had cried out as well, startled from the close proximity of Darius and his little outburst.

“Darius!”

“Alukai!” There was barely time for the brunette to shut the door before Darius had thrown himself into his arms, hugging his slender teenage body against Alukai’s older form.

“Hey now... It’s okay...” Alukai said quietly, stroking a hand over Darius’ short hair, holding him close. “What’s wrong?”

“Jace got a letter too!” Darius cried, tears forming in his brightly colored eyes. He had dropped the pile of mail the moment Alukai had opened the door and startled him, but he didn’t want to release the brunette to pick up the pile from the floor.

“I figured so much,” Alukai said with a grim voice. “I’m going to have a talk with our city mayor and see what’s going on.”

“Please don’t leave...” Darius mumbled, gripping Alukai’s jacket in his slender fingers. “I don’t want to lose either of you... Not this way...” Alukai gently pried Darius from his chest, making the boy step back so he was able to shed his winter boots and bulky jacket.

“The last thing either of us want to do is get caught up in whatever is going on,” he assured the younger male. “That’s why I’m going to go talk to the mayor. She should know what’s going on, and if she doesn’t, I guess I’m going to have to take a spin to Japan and talk with the people who own Pet Palace. I wouldn’t doubt that they’ve heard about this by now. I’m actually surprised that they have contacted us to give us more information, or that there hasn’t been anything on the news about what’s going on. Even if most PET System’s are brainless sex toys, or programmed only for serving food and cleaning house, we all deserve to know about our future.”

“Can I come with you?” Darius asked, though he frowned when Alukai stepped past him and headed into the living room.

“Aren’t you going right now?” he asked again, trailing after his best friend and leaning on the door frame of the entry to the living room. “Don’t you want to find out right away?” Alukai shook his head, sitting himself down on the couch and turning on the TV, instantly flicking to the local news channel.

“I want to see if anyone has contacted the media about what’s been going on. No doubt PET System owners don’t want their hard earned money being shipped into a war with no promise that they will ever come back, and if they do, will they be in one piece?” Alukai explained to Darius, patting the seat beside himself in offering. The darker haired male hesitated for a few moments before nodding and sitting himself down beside Alukai, taking his friend’s hand in his own.

“Just don’t keep me in the dark, okay?” he asked softly, and smiled when Alukai gently squeezed his hand, not pulling away.

“You know how I feel about you Darius, and you should know that means that I’m going to keep you up to date in every aspect of my life.” The brunette watched the news intently, not wanting to miss any mention of what was going on with PET Systems. Darius sat quietly as well, worried that he was going to lose all his friends in whatever was going on.

“And in other news, Personal Entertainment Technology Systems all around the world are reeling from what seems to be a random, spontaneous military draft, despite there being no word of a war in any part of the world.” Alukai turned the TV up further, leaning forward ever so slightly as he focussed intently.

“It’s a well known fact that PETS are seventy five percent likely to be programmed as nothing more than sexual pleasure objects, or weak minded and submissive individuals. Why anyone would want to draft these robotic beings into something as complicated as war, especially when PET Systems aren’t primarily programmed for violence, is the big question floating in the air right now. We’ve tried to make attempts to communicate with the president, but as of right now we haven’t been able to make contact. PET System owners around the world are in an outrage about the possibility of their PETS being taken away from them, and the possibility of the PETS not returning from this so-called war.” Alukai had to release Darius’ hand in an effort to keep himself from breaking tender human bones, not wanting to inflict any pain on the one he hoped to have as his boyfriend one day. Darius curled his arms around Alukai’s shoulders, tugging the brunette against his chest and holding him close.

“What does this mean?” he asked softly. Alukai shook his head, still staring at the TV despite his position of being pressed against Darius’ chest.

“No one knows,” he admitted. “And until they are able to talk with the president, who is the only person who could have ordered this draft, we won’t know what’s going to happen. PET System owners aren’t going to let their PETS go without a fight, draft or no draft.”

“What about you?” Darius asked, gently running his fingers through the brunette’s soft hair.

“I’m not owned, so I guess this is my own choice,” Alukai admitted. “But I won’t go anywhere unless they come and drag me out of my house with guns and handcuffs. Whatever is going on, I’m not going to submit to it.” The brunette was surprised when Darius shifted under him, causing Alukai to nearly fall off the couch. Darius smiled down at the young man laying on his lap, gently stroking his fingers through Alukai’s hair.

“Well... Hi...” Alukai mumbled, peering up at the ebony haired teenager leaning over top of him, enjoying the gentle touches. His eyes went wide when Darius leaned down over him, gently brushing their lips together in their first kiss.

“I won’t let them take you away from me...” Darius whispered into the kiss, resting his hands on either side of Alukai’s head.

“Does this mean you like boys?” Alukai asked softly, lifting a hand to gently stroke Darius’ smooth cheek.

“This means I like you...”

“I wouldn’t have this any other way,” Alukai admitted. Darius smiled and had to sit up straight, his back straining against his lack of flexibility, his hands still resting against his new boyfriends shoulder and hair.

“What did Jace have to say?” he asked softly, absently watching the television in front of them.

“He isn’t leaving Kaeden’s side, no matter what anyone says. We both have hope that Kaeden will wake up soon, before Jace stresses himself out anymore.”  
“Are you still thinking about going to Japan to talk to the Pet Palace people?” Alukai nodded, shifting his body on to his side so he was more comfortable and still able to watch TV.

“I’m coming with you.” The statement was blunt and to the point, and Alukai realized that Darius was being one hundred percent serious, and wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Now wasn’t the time to talk about going to Japan, especially when their relationship was so fragile and in the very beginning stages. Alukai simply nodded his head and curled his fingers around Darius’, letting their hands rest on his side as they returned to watching the news. Everything was starting to revolve around the PETS draft, and while no one had any answers to the questions being asked, more than one person had some sort of opinion of what was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

With Jace staying by Kaeden’s side at all times, Alukai had to push the red head to come home every day to interact and tend to his cats.

“Don’t forget,” Alukai pressed, and Jace gave him a dirty look.

“I won’t forget!”

“I’m not going to be around for at least a week, so I made sure you have enough cat food and fresh cat litter,” the brunette continued, scribbling some final notes in a coil bound notebook he had purchased.

“I know how to take care of my pets,” Jace insisted, though he went quiet when Alukai shot him a look in return.

“You’ve been spending so much time here that I have to make sure you understand the concept of time. Besides, I think the doctors would be happy to see you go home, even if it’s only for a few hours at a time.” Alukai handed Jace the notebook before taking off his own personal watch and handing it over as well.

“I programmed times into this watch so you remember to go home, and you can’t come back here to the hospital until the watch goes off again,” he informed the red head. “And if I find out that you weren’t listening, I’ll make sure to kick your ass when I get home.” Jace nodded, holding the notebook on his lap and putting the watch on his wrist.

“Take care of us,” he told him softly, and Alukai smiled and nodded in return.

“I’ll figure everything out,” he promised. “The people at Pet Palace know I’m coming, and they’re setting up an interview along with a TV station. We might even be able to contact the president, or he may even come to Japan.”

“I’ll watch you on the news,” Jace said with a smile.

“I know you will,” Alukai told him, patting the red head on the shoulder before he left the hospital room, confident that Jace would live up to his promises and tend to the cats back at the house. The brunette pulled out his cell phone the moment he stepped out of the hospital doors, dialling his favourite number as he strolled towards his truck.

“Hey baby,” he greeted the other person, smiling brightly.

“Yeah, I’m on my way home now. I gave Jace all the information he needed, and made sure that he was going to go home every day. Yup, I gave him the watch too, and pre-set the timers.” Alukai pressed his phone between his head and shoulder as he fought with his keys, unlocking his truck door and slipping inside.

“I’ll be at your place in twenty minutes, so be ready. Our place leaves in five hours and you know how stupid these international flights are.” Hanging up his phone, Alukai started his truck and pulled out of the parking lot, heading out of town to pick Darius up and to promise his lovers parents that he would take care of their son and that Darius would return safely. Going to Japan had meant that Darius had to rush his passport, and Alukai had to borrow money from Jace in order to be able to purchase the tickets they needed. The drive out to the country took less than fifteen minutes, and Alukai knew that Darius would be ready none the less. He didn’t doubt that the ebony haired teenager had been packed and ready for at least twenty four hours, if not longer, and that helped with getting to the airport on time. Despite the snow on the ground, and the cold wind that whipped around him, Darius was waiting on the sidewalk when Alukai pulled up, smiling brightly at his brunette boyfriend.

“Oh! He’s here!” Darius’ mother’s voice carried from the front door, and Alukai shook his head with a smile, helping his lover place his suitcases in the back seat.

“They really did miss work to see you off, didn’t they?” Alukai laughed, happy that he had been so easily accepted into the James family, especially when he was older than Darius was.

“Don’t go without saying goodbye!” Mrs. James shouted, bustling out towards the parked truck and her son.

“We’re just waiting on your mom,” Darius laughed, letting his mother sweep him up in her arms in a loving hug. Mr. James followed not two minutes later, wearing house slippers and not bothering to put on a jacket as he saw his son leave on his very first trip. Alukai shook the tall man’s hand, registering the amount of pressure Mr. James used when shaking as a good deal more than normal, and the brunette faked a small wince of pain.

“You better not let anything happen to my son,” the man said in a low voice, releasing Alukai’s hand.

“I wouldn’t dream of letting Darius get hurt,” Alukai answered honestly, looking the man directly in the eyes. Despite being welcomed into the family quite easily, Alukai knew that Darius was their only son and Mr. James didn’t want anything to go wrong.

“I know what you are, boy, and I don’t want you getting pulled away from my baby and sent to whatever war they’re threatening about.” Alukai’s eyes went wide and he glanced around, surprised that neither Darius nor Mrs. James had heard the threat Mr. James had uttered. The brunette nodded his head in understanding, promising the man that everything would be okay.

“We should really get going Alukai!” Darius called over his mother’s fussing, gently prying himself away from the woman in order to hug his father goodbye.

“I agree. Jace warned me that international flights take twice as long, and we’re going to be cutting it close if we don’t get going right away.” Alukai smiled at Mrs. James and slipped into his truck, watching his younger lover hug his father and whisper a few words. He assumed that Darius had indeed heard his father’s heartfelt threat and was letting the older man know how he felt about such things, but Alukai wasn’t going to get in the way.

“Let’s go brat,” he joked, leaning his arm out his driver’s side window. Darius laughed and hugged his mother one last time before hurrying around to the passenger side, pulling himself up and into Alukai’s truck.

“Don’t forget to buckle up!” Mrs. James called, and both boys groaned and double checked their restraints, just to make the older woman happy.

“Watch out for idiots on the road,” Mr. James said, leaning on the driver’s side door. “And check in with us when you land in Japan, no matter what time it is.”

“We will dad, don’t worry!” Mr. James straightened up and patted the truck, waving the two young men off while his wife cried dramatically.

“Well,” Alukai said with a grin, glancing at his lover. “That was an interesting goodbye. It’s a good thing they didn’t drive us to the airport and see us off, isn’t it?”

“Mom would have made one hell of a scene if they did, and I wasn’t going to take a chance that something like that was going to happen,” Darius returned, shifting himself to get comfortable in his seat.

“How long is it going to take to get to Tokyo?”

“Jace said the ride back was almost eighteen hours, so that’s what I’m assuming. I think that includes security, layovers, and all that jazz,” Alukai explained, shoulder checking quickly before he changed lanes in order to head out of town to the airport.

“Are we flying the cheapest way possible?” Darius wasn’t looking forward to being squished from all sides by people he didn’t know, especially if it was going to be an insanely long trip.

“Jace gave us the company credit card and suggested we fly executive class, to avoid any hassles, and because it’s your first big plane ride,” Alukai informed him. “Apparently the seats recline all the way and turn into a bed, and there’s a TV with tons of movies, laptop internet access, and all that good stuff.”

“Well, at least that means I can blog about my trip, and upload a lot of pictures!” Darius said with a grin, and Alukai chuckled at him.

“I doubt you’re really going to have any pictures while we’re on our way there, Darius,” he reminded the teen. “You’ll most likely sleep there and back, or watch movies the entire way.”

“Is there going to be food?”

“Of course, it’s an international flight.” Alukai pulled into the airport parking lot, making sure to purchase a long term parking pass on his way in before he found a place for them to park.

“You’ve really never travelled, have you?” he asked. Darius shrugged his shoulders some, chewing on his bottom lip as they came to a stop in the snow covered parking lot.

“Mom and dad love me, but they never take me anywhere,” he answered honestly, and Alukai had to smile, stroking his fingers through his lovers short hair.

“Let’s get our stuff into the airport and start making our way through security. There’s plenty of time to talk while we’re on the plane.” Darius agreed, unbuckling himself and sliding out of the truck before pulling open the back door and loading himself up with his suitcases.

“Did you remember the kitchen sink?” Alukai joked as he pulled his own belongings out of the back seat as well. The dark haired teen stuck his tongue out at the brunette, using his foot to close the back door.

“I only have two bags!” he called around the truck, shuffling through the snow in order to stand beside his boyfriend.

“And a carry on item,” Alukai reminded him, motioning to the teenagers bulging laptop bag.

“I didn’t want to be bored,” Darius informed him, watching Alukai double check that the truck was secure before they began the walk across the long term parking lot and towards the airport front doors.

“Does it bother you when I tease you?” Alukai asked softly, taking one of his lovers heavy suitcases in hand, barely weighed down by his own small carry on. PET System’s really didn’t need much in the way of personal hygiene and clothing, especially when Tokyo offered him so many other opportunities to shop for new and unique clothing.

“I know you don’t mean it,” Darius answered him, simply following his lover through the front doors and into the huge international airport. He kept himself close to Alukai, worried that he was going to get lost in the mass of people moving around him. He knew the brunette would keep an eye on him, but the constant worry of getting separated and lost was more than enough to keep Darius from lagging behind.

“I’m glad we got your passport so quickly,” Alukai admitted. “I can’t imagine taking anyone else on this trip, and I’m happy that I get to show you where I came from.”

“I’m excited to see Tokyo,” Darius said with a smile, keeping himself close to Alukai as they stepped into the international flight check in line. He was amazed at how many people were in the airport, and wanted nothing more than to know where everyone was going, and why. Alukai handled all the steps that needed to be taken in order for the two of them to start moving through security, making sure that their luggage was tagged properly and that their carry on items weren’t going to cause any problems before he and Darius proceeded towards the security check in area.

“I thought you had to wait until they called your flight number before you could go through security?”

“That’s only for in the country flights. With international you check in, then wait in the check in area until boarding. It takes a good amount of time Darius, so don’t worry, we aren’t doing things wrong, I promise.” The last thing Alukai wanted was to get Darius worked up before his first ever plane ride, the brunette gently lacing his fingers with his boyfriends.

“Is it nice in Japan?” Darius asked.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful in Tokyo. I’m going to take you to the Japanese gardens, and all the big malls, and everywhere else I can think of,” Alukai said with a smile, squeezing his hand gently. “I can’t wait to see you in some beautiful Japanese style clothing.” Darius blushed, hugging himself against Alukai’s strong side as they moved into the next line they had to be in. The flight was going to be a long one, and the time change alone was really going to mess with Darius’ sense of time, especially his sleep patterns. Alukai knew that he was going to have to be very considerate of his lover’s human limits, for the first few days at least. Choosing to go to Japan so early meant that Darius would have time to adjust and Alukai could deal with Pet Palace and hopefully the president, who apparently ordered the draft that was messing up the lives of ever PET System and every PET System owner.

 

“Jace...?” With a startled snort, Jace jerked his head off the pillow he had been resting on, looking frantically around the hospital room before he noticed Kaeden’s beautiful blue eyes watching him.

“Kaeden!” The red head scrambled out of his chair and to Kaeden’s side, gently taking his lovers hand in his own and getting as close as he could without actually climbing up onto the bed.

“You’re awake... I’ve been so worried... You had an accident baby,” he explained, using one of his feet to pull his chair under him so he was able to sit down.

“I don’t remember,” Kaeden groaned, his body aching from head to toe now that he was awake and not currently on any painkillers seeing as he had been in a coma.

“It’s okay,” Jace assured him. “The doctor said that you might not remember, and that’s okay. We were horseback riding and Switzer got scared by a bear and tossed you, and you hit your head. You didn’t wake up, and there was a blizzard, so I tried to build us a shelter to keep you from dying in my arms.” Jace felt the emotions swirling inside him, even if he wasn’t truly human.

“I hurt...” Jace hadn’t thought to call the nurse, quickly reaching for the pull string that would activate the call button to let someone know that they needed help in Kaeden’s room.

“I called the nurse,” Jace soothed him, gently brushing back some of Kaeden’s blonde hair. He knew the nurse would respond as quickly as they could, seeing as they were all waiting for Kaeden to wake up and recover.

“I’m hungry...” Kaeden whimpered, leaning into the gentle touches. “How long was I asleep?” Jace held his hand gently, making sure that Kaeden was always touching him.

“Almost three weeks.”

“What about-” Jace cut him off by gently pressing a finger to his lips, quieting him.

“I’ve taken care of everything, don’t worry. All we need to focus on is making you better and getting you back home,” Jace told him. Kaeden’s regular doctor bustled in with a smile, having assumed that the call for a nurse had been for a good reason.

“Ah, so he really is awake!” the man said with a cheerful voice, coming to stand beside and bed.

“Only for about ten minutes,” Jace said, watching as the doctor observed Kaeden, checked his pupils, and began testing his nerves and reflexes.

“He was complaining about being in pain.” The doctor nodded, making notes on his clipboard as he moved around Kaeden’s body.

“I’ll prescribe some pain killers once we’re done.” Gently removing the blanket from Kaeden’s lower body, the doctor tested Kaeden’s reaction to pain in his toes and feet. The blonde pulled each foot away when the doctor prodded him with his pen, wincing as he struggled to move his stiff muscles.

“Well, it’s good to see that you didn’t wreck your back when you were thrown,” he commented, patting Kaeden’s calf gently. “We had worried that you might have ended up paralyzed, but seeing as you feel the pressure I put on your foot with the tip of my pen, I see you don’t have any long lasting effects. I know that your muscles are sore, and that’s from laying in bed for so long. Physical therapy should get you back on your feet and walking around in a few months, but I don’t want you to push yourself too hard.” Jace was listening intently, mentally taking notes and praying that Kaeden would listen to the doctor and not push too hard.

“I trust you’ll keep him in line?” the doctor smiled, shaking his pen at the red head on the other side of the bed. Jace nodded, standing quickly to shake the doctors hand, thanking him multiple times for taking such good care of his lover.

“I’ll check in on you from time to time, but I know you’ll keep him from over extending himself.” The doctor made a few notes for Jace, handing over a slip of paper with several items listed on it.

“His stomach will have shrunk since he’s been in here, so he’s going to have to stick to soups, jello, and other soft foods for a few days. Lots of liquids and no walking around until I say so, and that includes trips to the bathroom.” The older man had a feeling that Kaeden was someone who was going to push himself as far as he could, even if it meant that he might end up hurting himself instead.

“I promise, I won’t let him leave this bed unless it’s in a wheelchair, and only if you say it’s okay,” Jace promised. He shook the man’s hand once more before allowing the doctor to leave before sitting back down at Kaeden’s side.

“You’re going to be okay baby.” Kaeden managed a small smile, though his muscles were still causing him pain and he had yet to put anything into his stomach.

“When the nurse comes with your morphine, I’ll ask her to get you something to eat.” Jace had a feeling that food was on the blonde’s mind, once again stroking his fingers through Kaeden’s hair.

“Can I have blue jello?” Kaeden asked, his voice scratchy and weak from not being used for almost three weeks.

“I’ll get it myself if they don’t have it,” Jace promised. “Is there anything else you want? A special kind of soup, or maybe buttery mashed potatoes?” Kaeden smiled at his lover, loving how well Jace knew him.

“Potatoes with cheese and ketchup,” he mumbled, wincing as his throat began to hurt from use.

“And water,” Jace supplied. “Or maybe some vitamin water, so you get the good flavour and the good vitamins and nutrients you need.” Kaeden nodded, resting deeper into the pillows that had been supplied by the hospital, feeling rather tired.

“I’ve been sleeping for weeks, but I still feel tired,” he informed his red headed lover. Jace smiled and stroked his head gently, adjusting the blankets around Kaeden’s weak body.

“Get some sleep,” he cooed. “I’ll take care of everything, I promise.”

“Blue jello...” Kaeden reminded him as he closed his eyes, trusting his boyfriend to keep him safe while he continued to rest. The moment Jace was sure that Kaeden was resting peacefully, and he had asked the nurse to bring up some food when his lover woke, the red head stepped outside and headed for the exit. He had to return home to take care of his beloved pets, as well as contact Alukai and let him know the good news about Kaeden. If it hadn’t been insanely expensive, Jace would have used his cell phone to call, but their home phone had an international calling plan that didn’t cost the two dollars and seventeen cents a minute that his cell phone did.

“Now that Kaeden is awake and going to recover, all we have to worry about is this stupid letter than every PET System is receiving,” Jace muttered to himself, arms crossed over his chest as he cursed himself to leaving his jacket inside his truck after his last trip back to the house. The PETS draft was still fresh in Jace’s mind, and it scared him like none other to think that he would be separated from the only life he knew and thrust into a war that no one knew anything about. The drive home was more than enough time to think about everything that was going on in his life, the red head drumming his fingers against the steering wheel as he carefully moved through the city streets. The weather hadn’t improved much since the blizzard that had started everything, but there hadn’t been a storm like the first blizzard, and Jace was thankful for that. The last thing he wanted was to end up in an accident himself and be unable to care for his injured lover. It was only a fifteen minute drive to return home, and Jace smiled as he unlocked the front door and pushed inside, watching his cats scramble to come greet him. 

“Hey my babies,” he smiled, crouching down to stroke their soft fur and give them the love that they deserved for putting up with him barely being home.

“He woke up today babies,” Jace told them, even though he knew that they didn’t understand what he was saying. “Once he starts physical therapy we’re going to be able to bring him home.” Felix and Izumi rubbed themselves against his legs as he pried his shoes off and headed into the kitchen to check their food and water, snagging the cordless telephone on his way. Jace dialled the phone number for Alukai and Darius’ hotel, wincing at the time difference but knowing that they would have wanted to be woken up for such amazing news.

“Hey, Alukai, it’s Jace. Yeah, I know it’s insanely late there, but I had to call you and tell you that Kaeden woke up today.” Jace could make out Alukai’s shifting, knowing he was sitting himself up and bed.

“Yeah, he woke up and doesn’t remember what happened, so I filled him in. The doctor said that he’s going to need physical therapy to get himself walking again, but at least he can feel everything from head to toe. He was even complaining that he was in pain, and told me he wanted blue jello and mashed potatoes with cheese and ketchup” On the other end of the telephone line, Alukai woke his ebony haired lover and explained what was going on. Jace had to laugh when he heard Darius’ happy cry, holding the phone away from his ear ever so slightly. He could hear the two of them laughing over Kaeden’s request for food, the blonde being well known for strange food combinations.

“I’ll let you guys get back to sleep, but I wanted you guys to know the good news,” Jace continued, not wanting to drag out the conversation when he had woken his two friends up. Alukai agreed to email him when he woke up in several hours, not wanting to run up an insane phone bill for something that wasn’t an immediate emergency.

“Sleep well you two, and let me know how the meetings with Pet Palace are going.” Jace leaned against his kitchen counter, setting the cordless phone down on the smooth surface as he simply absorbed everything that was going on. Izumi hopped up onto the counter, nuzzling her soft face against the shoulder of her master as if sensing that Jace needed a little cheering up.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Jace whispered, more to himself than to the cat rubbing up against him. He wasn’t sure how to cope with everything that was going on, but knew that he should have been happier than he was.

 

Alukai closed his eyes as Darius gently brushed his hair, the two of them getting ready for their final meeting with Pet Palace. This meeting was going to answer every question they had, and probably a few they hadn’t even thought about. Alukai was sure that Darius was more nervous than he was, even if he wasn’t going to be the one affected by what ever happened to be going on.

“I think I could get used to doing hair for a living,” Darius commented softly, watching his new boyfriend in the mirror they were sitting in front of.

“Maybe you could go to college for it,” Alukai suggested, not bothering to open his eyes. The sensation of having his hair brushed and toyed with was something the brunette found incredibly relaxing, and it was probably the best thing for the nervous male right that moment.

“There are colleges for hair styling?”

“Of course there are. I’ll help you look some up as soon as we’re done with Pet Palace, alright lover?” Alukai opened his eyes and smiled in the mirror, loving the sight of Darius standing behind him.

“We make an amazing couple lover...” he mumbled, leaning back against Darius ever so slightly. “I’m glad that we could be together...” Darius smiled, stroking his fingers through Alukai’s silky hair.

“We should really get going, just in case traffic gets bad.” Alukai laughed softly, standing from his place in front of the mirror and turning to take Darius into his arms. His smaller lover was always taking care of him, even before they had actually established a relationship with one another.

“We have a limo,” he reminded the younger male, resting his chin on top of Darius’ head.

“I think we should have just gotten a rental, or taken a cab, or something,” Darius mumbled, even though he loved riding around in the midnight black limousine, feeling like rich royalty.

“I’m not familiar with Tokyo,” Alukai reminded him, stepping back to smooth a hand over his shirt, not wanting to be too wrinkled for his final Pet Palace meeting. He knew that Darius enjoyed riding in the limousine just as much as he did, and it was much easier to have someone familiar with the city drive them around instead of stumbling around like lost looking tourists.

“Let’s get going,” he said softly, motioning towards the door, slipping his shoes on as he went. Darius double checked that he had his wallet and their room key card before following his lover, nearly falling over his own undone shoelaces.

“Hey! Don’t leave me behind!” Alukai paused, glancing over his shoulder as Darius scrambled after him, catching his lover around the waist.

“Do up your shoes before you trip and fall. I don’t want you bashing in that beautiful nose of yours.” Darius blushed but did as he was told, using Alukai as a brace to keep his balance as he properly laced his shoes. Alukai leaned back slightly to admire his boyfriends firm backside, loving how the new stylish jeans they had gotten hugged all of Darius’ hips and thighs in all the right places.

“I know your staring at my ass,” Darius said with a smirk, standing straight and playfully pushing Alukai’s shoulder. They both shared a laugh, holding hands as they made their way down the hallway and into the elevator.

“I can’t believe we’ve been spending so much of Kaeden’s money,” Darius said, though he didn’t seem to mind how lavishly they were staying in Tokyo. Jace and Kaeden were more than happy to finance something that might save the life Jace had built with Kaeden, but it still felt weird to be spending it.

“It’s all for a good cause,” Alukai told him, squeezing his hand gently. “We’re going to get to the bottom of all of this, and if we can, we’re going to put a stop to it.” The hotel staff smiled and waved as they walked through the main area of the hotel, more than aware of what was going on with Alukai and Darius, seeing as word travelled fast among hotel workers. Both males returned a wave and continued out to the waiting limousine, Alukai holding the door as Darius slipped inside first, then followed his lover in and closed the door.

“We’re heading to Pet Palace again,” Alukai told their driver, smiling at the man who was always so patient with them, no matter what they said or did. The driver nodded and closed the window that divided him from the two in the backseat, pulling out of the parking lot and into the busy Tokyo streets.

“I bet we could have found a hotel closer to Pet Palace,” Darius mumbled, watching the city go by as they drove, getting a thrill out of the people who pointed and stared at the limousine.

“Why are you picking at our trip so much?” Alukai asked, tugging his lover back and away from the window. “You should be happy that your parents let you come.”

“You aren’t going to lecture me about you letting me come?”

“You know I can’t deny you anything, no matter the cost or how dangerous it is,” Alukai answered honestly, hugging Darius back against his chest. “I was in love with you the moment I saw you, and I don’t think anything is going to change that.” Darius blushed, letting his body relax back against his brunette boyfriend’s strong chest, knowing that everything Alukai said was the truth.

“We’re here sirs,” the driver spoke, startling the two out of their private, intimate moment.

“Thank you Kensuke,” Alukai said with a smile, his Japanese accent flawless. With gentle hands he helped Darius out of the car, curling his arm around his lovers slender waist.

“Think we’re going to actually get to talk to the president?”

“I doubt it, but Pet Palace promised us an answer to everything, and I’m going to take what I can.” Alukai held the front door as they stepped inside, once more eyeing Darius’ firm backside as the dark haired teenager walked by. It was probably going to take time, but Alukai was intent on getting into Darius’ fitted pants and seeing everything else, among other things.

“Welcome back boys,” Candice greeted them, standing from her position behind the reception desk, dressed as pristine as ever in her white Pet Palace uniform.

“I hope it’s the last time,” Alukai admitted, smiling at the girl. Candice nodded in agreement and handed over a clipboard and a pen, getting both males to sign in and date the sheet attached.

“You two are getting to be pro’s at this, aren’t you?” she asked with a smile. Alukai simply rolled his eyes a little, setting the clipboard back on the counter once he and Darius were done signing.

“So do you know if mister head honcho is actually here to answer all of our questions?” Candice shrugged a little, wishing she had a better answer for the two very patient boys standing in front of her.

“Your meeting starts in about twenty minutes, so I’m going to send you up there now,” she informed them, motioning to an approaching PET System that worked in the building. “Lane will take you up to the meeting room, and you can help yourselves to the coffee, tea, and doughnuts that are set out. Mr. Wallace shouldn’t be late, but please don’t fuss too much if he is.” Alukai agreed for both himself and Darius, thanking Candice before they followed Lane out of the waiting area and towards the elevator that would take them up to the top floor of the building.

“What happens if the president isn’t here to talk to us?” Darius asked.

“Then we have to hope that Mr. Wallace and the Pet Palace staff have enough pull to get the information we want, and are nice enough to put everyone on the news. Or at least send us a written copy of everything that’s going on,” Alukai told him. Once again they followed Lane down a hallway, used to taking this path after meeting almost every day for nearly a week and a half, barely glancing at the pictures on the wall.

“Here you are,” Lane said politely, opening the double doors that lead into the large meeting room they were to be using that day, allowing Alukai and Darius to enter before he closed the door behind him. There were notepads sitting in front of each chair, and Alukai knew from experience now that he would more than likely fill his notepad with information.

“I love all the snacks they have for us!” Darius gushed, instantly loading his plate with snacks, both healthy and unhealthy.

“You’re going to get fat,” Alukai teased, pouring himself a cup of hot water and grabbing a tea bag.

“And you don’t have to drink,” Darius shot back, though he was grinning just as much as his boyfriend was. Together they moved back towards the table, claiming their respective seats and settling themselves in for what could be an incredibly long day.

“The sugar is to keep you awake, and the veggies are to keep you feeling filled up.”

“Why are you spouting such random facts?”

“Because I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been, and teasing you is keeping my mind off what’s going on in the world. If I don’t focus on something else I start thinking about the draft, and that letter that’s sitting on Jace’s table back home,” Alukai told him, scribbling a few notes on his pad of paper. He knew that Darius didn’t mean to annoy him, but it had been a long nine days and both were ready to get to the bottom of the PETS draft, and get away from Pet Palace.

“Alukai, Mr. James, thank you for coming.” Neither had heard Mr. Wallace enter, but Darius and Alukai moved to their feet instantly, shaking hands with the wealthy man.

“Thank you for having us,” Alukai said politely, taking note that the man was alone. All three sat down at the table and Mr. Wallace instantly took notice of the questioning look on Alukai’s face.

“President Jameson wasn’t able to attend this little meeting, but he sends his regards.”

“I truly hope you can answer the rest of my questions,” Alukai informed the man, not at all impressed with the president.

“I assure you that I’m going to do my best,” Mr. Wallace told him, folding his hands on the table in front of himself. Darius shifted slightly in his seat, pulling one of his legs under himself in order to get comfortable.

“I want to know two things, really. I want to know why the president if drafting PETS, and is it mandatory?” Alukai asked point blank, his pen poised over his pad of paper.

“To start off, the PETS are being drafted as a way to keep from anymore soldiers being killed.” Mr. Wallace barely had time to finish his sentence before Darius piped up.

“But there isn’t a war! We’ve been war free for almost ten years!” he almost cried, and Alukai had to rest a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“I understand that, but there is always war,” Mr. Wallace admitted. “And the president feels that PETS are more disposable than real human lives.”

“Some of us live lives that are just like a normal human.”

“Once again, I understand that, but this is what the president thinks, and there aren’t any laws stopping him from doing this.”

“I want to know where this magical invisible war is,” Darius muttered, leaning himself a little further over the table to watch the man across from him.

“I wasn’t given that information, so I highly doubt the president will be announcing it for the world to hear,” Mr. Wallace said as politely as he could, but Alukai picked up the annoyance in his voice.

“I think you know,” he said with a low voice. “I think that you’re part of this draft, and the president is paying you to ignore the fact that PETS do have rights.” Darius was shocked at how firm Alukai sounded, and simply lowered his eyes to his notebook, not wanting to get involved. Mr. Wallace was sputtering a little, and Alukai knew that he had struck a nerve in the powerful man.

“As for your second question,” the older man continued. “The PETS draft is not mandatory, and all PETS are going to required to report in as soon as possible. Within the next week, I believe. By the end of the next month at the absolute latest.”

“If they want PETS, then you should just make them a new army,” Darius said with a huff, resting his chin on the table. “Ones without minds like Alukai and Jace, and ones that people haven’t already attached themselves to.”

“That would put us out of millions of dollars,” Mr. Wallace retorted. “Besides, the president doesn’t want to wait that long.”

“I’m sure whatever he’s paying you to look the other way is more than enough to pay for a robotic army, but either way, using unstoppable killing machines is disgusting,” Alukai all but spat at the man. “You’re starting something that you won’t be able to stop, just like that Hitler guy way back when.”

“I think this is the time where I ask you to leave,” Mr. Wallace said, standing from the table. “Please understand and remember that you signed non-disclosure agreements when you arrived here, so none of what we’ve spoken about leave this room.”

“Our lawyers have already looked over those papers,” Darius spoke up, smirking some. “They’ve found multiple holes in your non-disclosure agreement. Ones that tell us we can talk to anyone we want to, including the press.” Mr. Wallace took a step towards Darius but Alukai was already on his feet, keeping himself between his lover and his creator.

“You have to remember that I’m one of those disposable PET System’s you’re shipping into that war,” Alukai informed the older man in front of him. “And I know you can’t beat me in a hand to hand battle.”

“Don’t you date threaten me...”

“Unless you give us some real answers, I’m going to let everyone know what you’ve told us, and by tomorrow morning it will be all over the world. You’ll go bankrupt and people and their PETS will go into hiding. Your plans won’t succeed if we have anything to say, and until you admit that PET Systems have true rights, we’re going to make your life a living hell.” Alukai looked as though he was going to strike the man, his hands clenched at his sides as he dared Mr. Wallace to make a move towards them.

“I suggest you sit your scrawny, over paid ass back down on that chair and tell us everything,” he suggested, motioning towards the chair Mr. Wallace had been sitting in. The man stared at both Alukai and Darius for several moments before doing as the brunette had said, sitting himself back down in his chair.

“Good man,” Alukai nodded. “Now, tell us how much the president is giving you to look the other way and allow the PET System draft?”


	6. Chapter 6

“There’s something strange going on in the world, isn’t there?” Kaeden asked, leaning on his lover as Jace helped move the blonde into a wheelchair, easily able to support his weight.

“It’s complicated,” Jace answered honestly, making sure Kaeden was settled in before moving around to the back of the wheelchair, knowing Kaeden wasn’t ready to wheel himself through the hallways. He had been trying to keep the PETS draft from his lover in an effort to keep Kaeden from getting too stressed out, but the blonde had obviously picked up on what was going on.

“I want to know,” Kaeden insisted, turning his head to glance up at the red head wheeling him down the hall. “I want to know what’s going on and why no one will tell me anything. I’m not a child Jace, I can handle whatever information you give me.”

“PETS are being drafted into a war the president hasn’t told the country about, and Alukai and Darius went to Tokyo to talk to Pet Palace and see what’s going on. I haven’t heard anything from them, but I know Alukai will do everything he can to get information out of the Pet Palace president, and our countries president.”

“They’re taking you away from me?” Kaeden’s voice had gotten very soft, and Jace groaned mentally, wishing he wasn’t the one telling Kaeden everything.

“It seems like it’s a mandatory draft,” Jace admitted. “Like I said, Alukai went to get answers for us, so we’ll see what happens. I gave him your company credit card and sent him and Darius on their way almost two weeks ago, but I haven’t heard from them in almost three days. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that it can’t be bad because no one has called me.” Jace pushed the automatic door opener for the physical therapy wing, smiling at the nurse who was working the reception desk and pushing Kaeden inside.

“Today is the big day, is it?” the nurse asked with a smile, and Jace nodded. He paused only long enough to sign Kaeden in before continuing on to the room they would be using for physical therapy.

“At least you get to have a bath after this,” Jace told his blonde boyfriend, resting one hand on Kaeden’s shoulder. “You get to use the hot tub after your therapy, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind letting you use the bathtub as well.”

“It’s about time,” Kaeden muttered, not impressed with his greasy hair and the sponge baths he had been receiving.

“Oh, you aren’t that bad,” Jace sighed. “I’ve done a good job at keeping you clean, so don’t complain. I could have let that scary nurse wash you, and then you would have had someone else’s hands between your legs.” Kaeden blushed, not wanting to be reminded of just how thorough his lover was when it came to cleaning, smiling at the doctor who had beaten them to the physical therapy room.

“Are you ready Kaeden?”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see just how strong my legs are after laying in that hospital bed for so long,” Kaeden grinned.

“I haven’t been letting him move around,” Jace informed the doctor, standing to the side to let the man assist Kaeden on his own.

“That’s a good thing, and this physical therapy will be even better for him now that he’s recovered enough from his little fall.” Jace knew his lover was trying to stay upbeat, especially when it was his first chance to try and walk again, but it was obvious that Kaeden was distracted by the news about the PET System Draft. The doctor seemed to pick up on Kaeden’s absent minded nature, frowning as the blonde didn’t focus completely on the task at hand.

“Something on your mind?” he asked, gently supporting Kaeden as he the blonde pushed himself to stand up fully.

“We’re having some problems,” Jace spoke up from the side of the room, balancing himself on one of the fitness balls. “I just don’t know if we’re able to talk about it.” The doctor lifted an eyebrow but continued concentrating on Kaeden, making sure the young man was using his legs instead of supporting himself with only his arms.

“The president is drafting PETS,” Kaeden said simply, forcing his legs to work in the way he wanted, one foot in front of the other.

“Drafting them for what?”

“Some war he hasn’t even announced to the country, and it’s a mandatory draft,” Jace supplied, bouncing ever so lightly on the fitness ball. “We have friends in Tokyo right now who are talking to the Pet Palace people. Maybe they know what’s going on since our president obviously doesn’t give a crap about us.”

“I’m surprised the news stations hasn’t picked up on this yet,” the doctor commented, coaxing Kaeden to push himself a little more to continue moving forward.

“I don’t think anyone has really said anything, not to mention we don’t know just how many PET System’s have gotten the draft letter that our idiot president sent out,” Jace commented, feeling his muscles tighten in his stomach as he tried to keep his balance while lifting his feet off the floor.

“When Alukai and Darius come back, we’ll have all the information,” Kaeden said with a determined voice. While his legs were weak, there hadn’t been any real damage and he was slowly but surely making his way to the end of the walking bars.

“Are they friends of yours?” The doctor was surprised by how open Kaeden and Jace were being with him, but he knew that it was most likely because he was a doctor, and they felt that he was trustworthy.

“Alukai is a friend of mine, another PET System, and Darius is our neighbor. When they come back from Tokyo, we’re going to hold a press conference and tell the world what they learned, no matter what happens. Darius’ parents are lawyers, and they’ve found loopholes in the waivers both Alukai and Darius have signed, meaning we can get the information out.”

“I bet you boys are going to blow the top off this,” the doctor commented, bringing Kaeden’s wheelchair back to him so the blonde was able to rest.

“Shit is going to hit the fan,” Jace answered honestly, smiling proudly at his lover. He gently stroked his fingers through Kaeden’s blonde hair, knowing he had worked hard to get himself walking again.

“I think you deserve a long soak,” the doctor commented, patting Kaeden on the shoulder. “Go take a hot bath and get yourself cleaned up properly. The hot tub is all yours as long as you make sure to put up the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door and clean up after yourselves. And no having sex until Kaeden can walk properly again.” The older man shot a look at Jace, making the red head blush gently and look away.

“Can we use it as a bath so I can use shampoo?” Kaeden asked, letting Jace wheel him towards the hot tub area of the physical therapy room, feeling the muscles in his legs throb from his short attempt at walking.

“Of course, that’s what it’s used for.” Jace grinned, happy to give his lover a proper bath after spending a month in the same hospital bed. The red head made sure to close the door behind himself and Kaeden after checking that the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was hanging on the door. He had barely started helping Kaeden out of his oversize sleep shirt when the doctor poked his head in the door, once again looking at the crouching red head.

“No sex,” he said with a firm voice. “And that includes oral and masturbation, got me?” Kaeden laughed at the embarrassed look on his lovers face, assuring the doctor that they would abide by his rules and refrain from sex until he said they were allowed.

“Right now I just want to have a hot bath and real food in my stomach,” Kaeden said with a smile, allowing Jace to help hold him up as he struggled with his pants. Before anything could become indecent the doctor excused himself, leaving the two young lovers to themselves. The information he had received about the PETS draft was still fresh in his mind, and he couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen around the world. His own hospital employed multiple PETS, including nurses, surgeons, and even pediatricians, and if PETS were being drafted, he was going to lose many of his workers. If he lost his workers, the hospital wouldn’t be able to function as quickly and efficiently as it did, and if that happened, people’s lives would be in danger. Many businesses had chosen to employ PETS in an effort to provide better service at a lower cost, and if most people couldn’t tell that the people taking care of them were actually robots, then what was the harm?

“Jace was right,” the man mumbled to himself, picking up the clipboard of another one of his patients and continuing down the hallway. “Shit is going to hit the fan…” One of his nurses lifted her head from the computer she was using, wondering what her boss was talking to himself about.

“Everything okay Dr. Roberts?” she asked, watching the man pass her by.

“What? Oh, yes Eve, I’m fine. Thank you.” He smiled at the pretty young woman, knowing that she was one of the many PETS he had employed, and was one of the best workers.

“I can’t imagine how bad everything is going to be,” the doctor continued to mumble to himself. “PETS work for free and are programmed to do so with all their hearts…” Pushing the troubling news from his mind for the time being, Dr. Roberts forced himself to smile as he stepped into another patient’s room, greeting them with a warm hello and shaking their hand carefully.

 

Stretching his arms over his head, Jace padded past the kitchen and into his living room, heading for the couch and his already running laptop. He had come home specifically to contact Alukai, trusting the brunette to have his laptop on even though they were in Japan. The red head clicked on his messenger system and sent an alert to Alukai’s before settling himself on his plush couch, arranging his body in a comfortable position.

[BodyModder says] Do you have any idea what time it is here?

[UrbanRedHead says] Eight in the morning Tokyo time, I checked, so no complaining. I waited until a decent hour!

[BodyModder says] I’d rather still be sleeping, thank you very much.

[UrbanRedHead says] You have better things to do than sleep! I want to know what sort of information you got from Pet Palace. What’s going on with PETS?

[BodyModder says] Can I at least go get breakfast first? I won’t take long…

[UrbanRedHead says] No! Kaeden and I paid for you to go to Tokyo to get information, and besides, you don’t even eat!

[BodyModder says] I might not, but Darius does, and we happen to like having breakfast together!

[UrbanRedHead says] Just tell me what’s going on

[BodyModder says] Can’t I catch a few more hours sleep? Darius is so utterly cute when he sleeps…

[UrbanRedHead says] Pay attention damn you! Give me the information before I fly down there myself and kick you in the ass!

[BodyModder says] Fine. The president paid the Pet Palace president almost a billion dollars to look the other way and hand over the rights of PETS so the president could draft them into some war, instead of Pet Palace making war PETS.

[UrbanRedHead says] That billion would have been more than enough to pay for an army of PETS!

[BodyModder says] Yeah, that’s the point. This way Pet Palace gets a full billion, and PETS are sacrificed instead of Pet Palace building new PETS. Understand?

[UrbanRedHead says] All because they wanted more profit! That’s disgusting!

[BodyModder says] Thanks to Darius’ parents we can tell everyone. Their legal papers were so badly, and quickly, drawn up that there are a ton of holes we could easily get through.

[UrbanRedHead says] I’ll get Kaeden to set up a press conference for when you two get home. When are you planning to get on a plane and come back to us?

[BodyModder says] We booked a flight for this Saturday, so, about three days and then we’ll be back. I think that puts us back at about 9:00 p.m. Friday, your time.

[UrbanRedHead says] Sounds good. I’ll get the meeting set up for Monday, and we’ll see what goes on from there. I’ve been talking to Kaeden’s doctor and he says that most government companies employ PETS to cut down on costs. PETS are created to work for free, but are some of the best workers, so it’s a win-win scenario. If the president drafts PETS, businesses are going to end up dramatically reducing service and people might end up dying!

[BodyModder says] You’re talking to people about this?! I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk to anyone until I get back!

[UrbanRedHead says] Shut up and listen to what I’m saying! If PETS are drafted, the world is going to end up in chaos!

[BodyModder says] I know, that’s what worries me. I think the moment we bring this to everyone’s attention, everything will go crazy.

[UrbanRedHead says] I just want you guys to come home safe, and then we can go from them. Kaeden has started his therapy and the doctor thinks he’s going to be good to walk on his own in maybe six weeks!

[BodyModder says] That’s amazing! We’ll be home soon, and then we can go over everything Darius and I have found out

[UrbanRedHead says] Enjoy your last few days!

Jace sat back from his laptop, legs tucked under himself as he watched Alukai’s messenger system go offline. He worried that someone would find out what Alukai knew and try and hurt the brunette and his dark haired lover, but he knew that Alukai was more than able to defend himself. Having both Alukai and Darius come home safe and sound was all Jace wanted, and even though he felt comfortable leaving Kaeden alone, he didn’t know how much longer he had with his blonde boyfriend.

“Hopefully the information Alukai is bringing home will make everything okay again,” he mumbled, stroking his fingers over Felix’s soft fur as the cat lay curled on his lap. Izumi had curled herself at her owners feet with her head resting on Jace’s left foot, sleeping soundly despite Jace talking to himself. Both cats seemed to be aware of the uneasy feelings Jace was having and they continued to stay as close as possible to the red head.

 

Even though he had to attend physical therapy for an hour every day, the doctor cleared Kaeden to return home, simply asking that he take it easy and allow Jace to help him whenever he needed it. When the blonde promised, and even gave Doctor Roberts a pass to get into the press conference that was being held that coming Monday, both he and Jace were free to leave the hospital. Twenty minutes later, Jace packed Kaeden into their home and gently rested his lover on the couch, smiling broadly.

“You stay here and I’ll grab your wheel chair,” he informed the blonde. “Just a few weeks of the chair and we can move you to those special support crutches the doctor told us about.”

“I’m not going anywhere until my legs are strong enough to hold me up on my own,” Kaeden said with a smile, leaning back against his comfortable couch. Jace pressed a soft kiss to the top of Kaeden’s head before once more venturing outside, collecting Kaeden’s wheel chair and suitcase and bringing them into the house. Izumi and Felix had already pulled themselves up onto the couch, rubbing their bodies against their master, enjoying Kaeden’s gentle petting.

“Aw, that’s so cute,” Jace cooed, sitting down beside Kaeden and lifting Izumi onto his lap, stroking the white kittens fur.

“I think they missed me,” Kaeden grinned. “I know I missed them.”

“Are you hungry? I could make you some real food,” Jace offered. Kaeden nodded, shifting his hips some to relieve some pressure on his still tender hips.

“How about veggie pizza and some chicken stir fry?”

“Sounds good lover, I’ll get right on it,” Jace promised, setting Izumi on the couch and getting back to his feet. “Did you want something to drink while I’m up?” Kaeden nodded, trusting his lover to get him something good to drink.

“Alukai and Darius should be home in a few hours, and then we can go over everything that’s happened,” Jace commented as he moved into the kitchen, raising his voice a little so Kaeden was able to hear him. “I’ve already set up the press conference time, so we have to move quickly to get everything together.”

“I wish Alukai would have emailed us everything he had so we could start preparing,” Kaeden called into the kitchen. “What if he gets stopped at the airport because he’s a PET System?”

“Then we’ll have to cope. Darius is human, so if Alukai doesn’t get through, Darius will.” Jace started his vegetables and meat cooking before making his way back to the living room.

“Let’s get your ass in that damn chair of yours so we don’t have to scream back and forth at one another,” he told the blonde, setting up the wheel chair before he lifted Kaeden off the couch, not waiting for the blonde to agree to the shift.

“They touch down in four hours, which is long enough for us to eat and maybe even long enough for you to get in a quick nap.” The red head wheeled Kaeden into the kitchen and set him up at the table with a drink and the house phone before returning to the stove.

“A nap sounds like a good idea, but only after I get food in my stomach,” Kaeden agreed, toying with his glass of orange juice. “I’m glad you stocked up the house before I came home. I was worried that there wasn’t going to be anything for me to eat.” Jace smiled, glad he was able to watch Kaeden while he cooked, the kitchen set up in the perfect fashion for entertaining while preparing food.

“You know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.” Kaeden raised an eyebrow and Jace rolled his eyes, shaking his wooden spoon at the blonde.

“Okay, other than that,” he said, referring to the riding incident.

“You know… It’s almost time for Christmas,” Kaeden commented, absently spinning the cordless phone in circles on the table. “We haven’t decorated, or talked about what we’re going to do.”

“I’ve never had a Christmas before,” Jace reminded him. “And besides, I’ve had other things to worry about. But if you want, we can go shopping and get everything you need.”

“Decorations, a tree, presents…” Kaeden listed on his fingers. “Alukai can spend Christmas with us too, and Darius can come over from his parents place.”

“You really like this holiday, don’t you?”

“It’s one of my favorites,” the blonde admitted. “I haven’t really celebrated it a lot since I was about sixteen, before I moved out of my parents place. They didn’t like some of my life choices, so I had to move out.”

“I remember you telling me about that,” Jace said with a nod, spreading a layer of cream cheese on a thin pizza crust before he started cutting up slices of fruit.

“I bet they hate themselves now, seeing as I got rich and have never once contacted them since I moved out.”

“You sure showed them.”

“I don’t regret anything I’ve done,” Kaeden admitted. “Especially when it comes to having you. I won’t let anyone take you away from me, I swear it.”

“I think we should simply focus on dinner, and then on the PETS situation,” Jace instructed, setting out the small fruit and cream cheese vegetarian pizza on the table, along with a plate, knife, and fork.

“And holiday decorating.”

“Of course love, and holiday decorating. Now each your appetizer and I’ll finish up your stir fry before I over cook the meat.” Kaeden was more than grateful to have Jace around to keep him well fed and off his feet, digging into his vegetarian pizza.

“Remember that your stomach is still rather small, so you don’t have to eat everything,” the red head reminded, mixing the chicken and vegetables together along with the stir fry sauce he had bought.

 

Alukai sighed happily as he stepped into Jace and Kaeden’s house, dropping his small duffle bag onto the floor.

“Hey guys! I’m home!” he called, stripping off his winter jacket and kicking off his boots.

“We’re in the living room!” Kaeden called. Alukai smiled and headed in the direction of the living room, waving at the two sprawled out on the couch.

“Hey cripple!” he joked, flopping down in the easy chair that was beside the couch, instantly tucking his legs under himself.

“Hello my world travelling friend,” Jace said with a smile, stroking his fingers over Kaeden’s still cramped legs. His blonde lover was stretched from end to end of the couch, his legs resting on Jace’s lap, enjoying the massage he was getting.

“Yes, hello to you too Jace.”

“What news do you bring from the wonderful world of Tokyo and international flights?” Jace drawled, simply enjoying having his friend back.

“Flights are too long and I’m seriously screwed up with the time change, even if I can automatically adjust myself,” Alukai admitted, putting his feet up and reclining back in the chair. “But I got to sleep in the same bed as Darius, so I’m happy.”

“Horny pervert,” Kaeden commented, wiggling his toes some.

“Indeed I am.”

“Do you want to power down for the night or are you up for sharing those Pet Palace notes?” Jace asked, moving his hands to Kaeden’s bare feet.

“Give me a hour or two and I should be good to go.” The small group lapsed into silence as they simply enjoyed each other’s presence, Kaeden closing his eyes and allowing himself to slip into a light sleep once again. Jace knew that Alukai was taking the hour to reformat his program’s time processor, allowing the brunette to get back in the swing of things back at home. The television in the living room was playing soft music from the local satellite radio station and it made Jace shift his body, curling himself behind his sleeping boyfriend. It took a little effort to keep Kaeden from falling off the couch, seeing as it wasn’t really built for two, but Jace made it work. It felt so wonderful to have his beautiful blonde lover in his arms once again, even if it was in an uncomfortable position and Alukai was sitting beside them.

“We don’t fit on this couch…” Kaeden mumbled, shifting slightly to get himself as comfortable as possible.

“I know…” Jace whispered, allowing Kaeden to turn over and face him, letting his arms rest around Kaeden’s slender waist.

“That’s a little better…”

“We don’t have much time for this sleepy romantic crap,” Alukai muttered, opening his eyes from his power down mode to peer over at the two lovers on the couch.

“Oh go back to sleep,” Jace groaned, hugging Kaeden closer to his chest in an effort to keep him from falling completely off the couch.

“Darius is coming over for dinner,” Alukai continued. “He has all the notes, on his laptop and the originals. We were worried about the draft so we both decided he was the one who should be carrying them.”

“Dinner isn’t for another few hours…”

“I said around seven,” Alukai told them. “He’s bringing Chinese food for us, well, for Kaeden and him.” Since the announcement of the PETS draft, both Jace and Alukai had started referring to themselves as PETS more and more often, even if they didn’t want to, or mean to.

“Enough talking, more sleeping,” Kaeden grumbled. Jace smiled and stroked one hand through his lovers silky hair, helping him sit up.

“Come on, I’ll take you to bed,” he said softly, not bothering with the wheel chair as he lifted Kaeden into his arms.

“Sounds good to me…” Alukai smiled as the two left, knowing Jace was more than willing to cater to his lovers every whim and need. He was surprised when Jace simply put Kaeden in the downstairs bedroom, but it made sense seeing as the blonde was currently in a wheel chair and unable to get up stairs on his own should it come to that.

“I think we should just let him sleep,” Jace told the brunette as he returned to the living room, sitting back down on the couch once again. “He’s still really tired and I know it hurts him to be awake for so long.”

“We have all weekend to get everything together, so I’m sure that we can deal with it even while Kaeden is sleeping,” Alukai agreed. “When Darius brings over everything, we’ll get started.”

“Are you worried?”

“Yes,” Alukai answered honestly.

“I’m scared,” Jace said with just as must honesty. “I don’t think I want to live without Kaeden.”

“Losing your master is hard,” Alukai said with a nod. “It took me awhile to get used to being on my own, but that’s not really what I’m worried about.”

“Oh?”

“I’m worried about how the economy is going to crash when the president pulls all the PETS out of their current positions. Yes, some of us are sex slaves, but you and I both know that hundreds of businesses use PETS as a source of work. You told me yourself that your doctor admitted that losing PETS equals losing workers, which in turn could mean losing lives.” Alukai sat up straight in his chair, rolling his shoulders some as he adjusted himself and pulled his long legs under his body.

“I hope that the information we present on Monday will show people just how serious this PET System draft is,” Jace said with a soft sigh. “If they don’t see what’s going on, this economy is going to go to hell.” Once more they lapsed into silence, this time from the seriousness of the problem they were facing. Their lives were literally on the line, and should they fail to convince the president to use new soldier PETS, they would be taken away from the only world they truly knew. This fact scared both males, and the last thing they wanted was to lose the happiness they had found.

 

Monday morning dawned with grey skies and thick falling snow, making Kaeden groan and Darius whimper, neither male liking the cold of winter, especially when it made the roads terrible to drive on.

“This just makes things even easier to explain,” Alukai said with an optimistic smile, gathering the folders that contained every inch of their argument, including the testimony by the president of Pet Palace.

“I think you should explain what you mean before we get in front of all those people, just so we don’t look like complete idiots in front of everyone,” Jace muttered, lifting Kaeden into his arms to avoid the trouble of pushing the blonde through the snow in his wheel chair. The blonde curled his arms around Jace’s neck, feeling rather childish in his oversize winter jacket and snow boots as his red headed lover packed him towards his truck. It had been decided that they would all take Kaeden’s truck, seeing as it was large enough to fit them all and their plush winter clothing.

“The city employs PETS to work the outdoor jobs that most people don’t want to work, like being out in the cold for hours. Most PETS are given temporary seasonal jobs with minimum pay, like delivering mail when its minus forty and shoveling the sidewalks of businesses where the workers can’t handle the cold. I used to do that when I first was on my own, and seeing as they pay, I was able to purchase the store I have now. It saves people from getting hurt if they slip and fall, or from freezing in the crazy temperatures. PETS are-”

“Okay, we get it,” Darius interrupted, pressing a finger to Alukai’s lips. “Save the rest of the speech for when we’re talking to everyone.” Alukai smiled, double checking they had everything they were going to need before ushering Darius out of the house and locking the door behind them. Jace was already settled in the driver’s seat, with Kaeden securely buckled into the passenger seat, his wheel chair secured in the back covered area of Kaeden’s huge Chevrolet Avalanche.

“Are we sure we have everything?” Jace asked, waiting to hear confirmations from everyone before shifting the truck into reverse and carefully backing out of the driveway. He needed to keep his windshield wipers constantly moving in order to keep snow from building up, and he had never been happier to know that Kaeden kept his truck in tip top form.

“I have to go pee!” Alukai called from the back seat when they were halfway to the press conference, and Jace nearly slowed down and pulled over before shouting back at the brunette behind him.

“You don’t actually pee!”

“Yeah, but I thought it would be fun to bother you,” Alukai admitted, grinning in the rearview mirror, knowing that Jace was glaring back at him. Darius had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud, his body trembling as he struggled to hold back his giggles.

“Don’t bother someone who’s driving on an icy road,” Kaeden muttered from the passenger seat. “Especially when there’s a cripple sitting in the front seat.”

“So we can refer to you as a cripple now?” Alukai piped up, and Darius was sure that if Kaeden had been able to, the blonde would have turned around and swatted Alukai.

“I think you need to hold your tongue before Kaeden comes back there,” Jace snapped in the rearview mirror.

“I think you need to drive more and talk less,” was the retort, and Jace had to grip his steering wheel to keep from simply turning his body around and punching Alukai in the face.

“You aren’t helping our current situation Alukai,” Darius said with a soft voice. “I know you just like to joke around, but today is a serious day, and there isn’t any room for joking.”

“Maybe I think we need to lighten the mood before one of us pops a vein or something,” Alukai muttered, but he leaned back against his seat and went quiet none the less. What Darius had said was right, and all of them needed to remain calm and hold back their jokes until the fates of the PETS was decided.

“I’m sorry,” Alukai almost whispered, but he knew that Jace had heard him. He saw the red head nod ever so gently and knew they would be able to talk about once everything was taken care of.

“How much time do we have to set up before the press conference starts?” Kaeden asked as they approached the building they had chosen to host their conference.

“Almost a hour, seeing as we left a little early,” Darius said, peering at the check list he had clipped to a clipboard. “And the press isn’t let in until we let them know we’re ready, so we’re the ones in charge. I know that Jace got us a video projector, so I’ll set up my laptop and get everything ready for when they come in. Studies say that people respond better to active presentations over people just talking.”

“And where did you get this information?” Jace asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced back in his rear view mirror.

“I did some research while you guys were setting everything else up,” Darius told them. “I checked out just how many PET Systems are employed by businesses, and even got into contact with Kaeden’s doctor to see how the PET System draft is going to affect his hospital. He was happy to give us any information we needed, so we have insider opinions other than our own.” Kaeden grinned, feeling rather proud of the ebony haired teenager sitting behind him.

“Well done.”

“Well, I wanted to do my part, and I knew you guys were crazy busy with what we already had.” Darius was blushing at the praise, holding his laptop bag closer to him.

“You guys go ahead and take everything inside, including the wheel chair, and I’ll bring Kaeden along,” Jace instructed, parking as close to the building as was possible, happy they had a temporary disabled parking pass that allowed them to park in the best spot for Kaeden.

“Will do boss!” Darius quipped, grinning as he stepped out of the truck. Alukai was barely able to warn his boyfriend about the slippery, snow covered ground when Darius let out a shout and crashed to the ground, unable to hold his footing.

“Darius!” Alukai dropped the box he was packing and sprinted around the truck as fast as he could, nearly ending up on the ground himself. Jace managed to get out of the truck and around to the other side as well, worried that another one of their group had been seriously injured. Darius was struggling to keep himself from crying, clutching his left wrist against his chest.

“It’s broken!” he wailed, pressing himself against Alukai when his lover dropped to his knees. “It’s broken!”

“It’s okay baby, it’s okay,” Alukai tried to comfort him, holding him close and all but lifting him on to his lap. Jace knelt as well, gently taking Darius’ wrist into his hand and examining the bones carefully, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Yeah, this is broken,” he confirmed. “We’re going to have to get him to the hospital and get it set.”

“But the presentation!”

“You’re more important. Kaeden and I can handle everything here, and Alukai can take you to the hospital,” Jace instructed. “Just let me get everything into the building and then Alukai can take you.” Darius nodded despite his trembling, allowing Alukai to lift him back up into the truck, carefully removing the dark haired teens laptop bag. No one had ever seen Darius so emotional, and it hurt all three men more than they had thought it would have. Jace and Alukai worked quickly to get everything into the building, followed by Kaeden’s wheel chair and then Kaeden himself.

“Drive careful and call us when you get any news,” Jace reminded Alukai as he handed over the keys to his brunette friend. “Take as much time as you need, and don’t worry about us.” Alukai nodded, double checking that Jace had everything before pulling out of the parking lot and heading to the hospital as quickly as was possible.

“We have a half an hour to set up,” Kaeden said with a small smile. “And I can’t even help you with anything.” Jace smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his lovers head, quietly assuring him that everything would be okay.

“I have more strength than I need,” he reminded the blonde. “I’ll get everything set up and all you have to worry about is working the laptop and the slide show, and I can go from there. It’s the first thing on our list, and then you can comment from the front table where you’re going to be sitting.” Jace was moving the few items they had and setting up while Kaeden simply rolled himself towards the front of the room.

“Does the laptop sit up at the front table too then?”

“Yeah, it’s easy access and all you have to do is keep clicking next. Darius’ notes say that the doctors testimonial is on the last few slides, after we present our basic information.” Kaeden nodded, placing the laptop on the desk and reaching for the cables that would connect him to the projector that Jace had gotten. He wasn’t familiar with the way things connected, but the step by step notes that were provided along with the projector came in rather handy.

“Do you think we need more set up time?” Jace asked, setting out the folders that contained the information they were going to use.

“I think I need to test out the system before we let them in,” Kaeden answered honestly. “I’m not really familiar with this presentation program, seeing as Darius was the one who set it all up.” Jace nodded and stroked his fingers through Kaeden’s hair before heading to the entrance to the conference room, peeking his head out. Kaeden knew he was informing the reporters that they needed more time, and seeing as they were breaking news that could possibly change the outcome of society, the reporters were bound to wait as long as was needed.

“How much time do you need?” Jace called from the back of the room, and Kaeden threw his hands up in the air, not sure how long he actually needed.

“How about fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds good!” Kaeden smiled at the wear patterns on Darius’ laptop, as well as multiple stickers and random permanent marker drawings. Clearly the teenager truly loved his laptop, and seemed to keep it in rather decent condition. The PET System draft presentation was on Darius’ desktop, and Kaeden was thankful that he didn’t have to go looking through the teenagers personal files.

“Do you need any help?” Jace asked as he stepped up behind Kaeden, gently curling his arms around the blonde’s shoulders.

“I think I’ve used this system before,” Kaeden informed him. “It’s a basic presentation system, and Darius just used really good effects to make the presentation easier to pay attention to.”

“So you figure that you’ll be good to go then?”

“Yeah, in about ten minutes, or as soon as everything boots up. I feel so behind the times…” Kaeden muttered, twisting around in his wheel chair to peer at the presentation screen behind him. “I’m going to have to take a few courses, or find the idiots guide, or something.” Jace smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Kaeden’s blonde hair in an effort to comfort his boyfriend.

“I know you’ll do fine, and as soon as you’re healthy again we can look into putting you into night classes,” Jace assured him. “But for right now we need to focus on this presentation and saving my ass from being drafted into some random war.” Kaeden leaned back against Jace for a moment before returning to his task, making sure the presentation was up and running properly.

“Yeah, I think I’m good to go,” Kaeden informed the red head. Jace smiled and patted Kaeden’s shoulder before heading to the back of the room once again, this time letting the reporters into the conference room.

“Everyone take a seat and please, no questions until we’re done the presentation!” he called over the sound of people entering the room. The reporters bustled into the room, looking rather impressed with the large presentation screen that had been set up at the front of the room.

“Everyone please take a seat and we’ll get started,” Jace called over the rush of voices, taking his position behind the presentation table. He hoped that Kaeden wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable being in public in his wheel chair, especially when everything they were going to be presenting was going to be recorded and put on television.

“Are you ready for this?” Jace asked softly, peering at his blonde lover.

“I think so, but it’s still scaring the crap out of me,” Kaeden admitted, setting the laptop presentation to the first screen that would presented.

“You’ll do fine baby,” Jace said with a smile. “I’ll do as much talking as you want me to, and if you need to step in, that’s alright.” Jace picked up the microphone they were going to use, double checking that Kaeden was ready before he began.

“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming to our press conference. I know that none of you haven’t heard about the world changing even that’s going on, and that’s why we’ve brought you here. Every Personal Entertainment Technology System, also known as PETS, has been drafted into a war that the president hasn’t even announced yet.” Kaeden was keeping perfect time with Jace’s speech, keeping track of the presentation. Several people in the audience gasped and the people recording the presentation seemed to zoom their cameras in closer.

“In the beginning of next year this draft will become mandatory, and every Personal Entertainment Technology System will be drafted and removed from their place in society. If you aren’t already aware, PETS are currently working in every aspect of our lives. They work jobs we don’t want to work, either because of bad weather or inability to function under extreme circumstances. They have even been created specifically to work for no pay, increasing productivity and reducing work place stress while providing amazing service. We even have testimony from a local doctor.” The red head nodded at his blonde boyfriend, and stepped back when Kaeden started the video portion of the presentation. The doctor that had been taking care of Kaeden appeared on the screen, walking through the hospital and showing the press conference attendees the many PET System’s that worked in his hospital. Doctor Roberts talked about the way the hospital could save money in the long run by spending money on PETS, and seeing as PETS didn’t need days off or holidays, they were able to function much more efficiently than normal human beings.

“As you can see,” Jace stated once the video had ended. “Personal Entertainment Technology Systems are an important part of our everyday lives. While we don’t let them take over more than five percent of actual human jobs, they add to our society and make life generally easier.” Kaeden smiled and continued to move through the presentation, enjoying the small graphics and charts that Darius had included on several presentation pages.

“If Personal Entertainment Technology Systems are removed from their current positions, hundreds of businesses will lose integral parts of their inner system, creating havoc and chaos. Everyone will have to increase their time spent at work, and the shifts that no one wants to work will have to be staffed as soon as possible, lest businesses end up running smaller hours. For those who work in the hospital, the emergency room will lose some of their peak time staff, the operating room will lose a neural surgeon, and several home care nurses will be removed from the homes they are working in. Some of these homes require people with incredible strength, and instead of patients spending money on lift systems, Personal Entertainment Technology Systems are brought in.” Jace took a sip of water from one of the bottles Kaeden had thought to pack, despite not needing any sort of liquids.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Multiple hands shot up and Jace scanned the room, wondering who was going to be first before he decided to simply start at the front of the room.

“We’ll simply go row by row, and each of you will be able to ask one question before handing the microphone over to the next person,” he instructed. “If you have other questions, you will need to hold them until the microphone comes back around to you.” Kaeden turned off the presentation and removed the wires from Darius’ laptop before switching to a word processing program, ready to take notes. He wanted to keep track of who asked questions, what they asked, and the answers that Jace provided. The presentation would have been a lot more interactive if Alukai had been able to speak, but getting Darius to the hospital had been more important. As each question was asked, Kaeden documented everything very carefully, not wanting to miss anything that might be important. Jace seemed very in control of the situation, and the reporters seemed to be getting the answers they were looking for, and that made both presenting males happy. Everyone had done their jobs right and had been prepared for the press conference, even if they were currently missing two of their team members.

“Why don’t they just make more PETS?” one of the reporters asked, and Jace had to hold back a smile. He wished that Alukai would have been there to break the news to everyone, but Jace took a deep breath and readied himself for the screaming that was bound to come.

“The president of Pet Palace was paid nearly one billion dollars by our countries president to look the other way and ignore the rights of Personal Entertainment Technology Systems. He essentially took a bribe instead of creating more PETS for the president to use in his so called war, pulling away valuable PET Systems from their jobs, families, and loved ones.” Kaeden subtly rested his head in his hands, acting as though he was simply watching Jace, while he was actually plugging his ears against the wave of sound that came from the listening reporters.

“He’s selling us out!” they cried, leaping to their feet. Everyone seemed to be intensely upset, and that pleased both Kaeden and Jace. This was the reaction they were looking for, and it could possibly be the answer to their problems.

“Now that you know, our president can’t possibly ignore the facts!” Jace called, trying to calm everyone down. “We know what will happen and that the president of Pet Palace was bribed! If we all work together, we can save the Personal Entertainment Technology Systems and prevent our economy from a crisis!” Many reporters were dialing furiously on their cellular phones, calling everyone and anyone they could contact, while others were already surging towards the exit doors.

“Spread the word!” Jace cried, opening his arms to the reporters. “Tell everyone and save our economy!”


	7. Chapter 7

Alukai smiled as he sat beside his ebony haired lover in the waiting room of the hospital, the two having chosen to wait for the x-rays to come back from the laboratory.

“Maybe we should have thought about who’s going to pick Kaeden and Jace up after the press conference is over?” Darius said softly, resting his head against Alukai’s shoulder. The doctor had given him some pain medication for the constantly throbbing pain in his wrist, and Darius admitted that the pills were making him tired.

“I think we were all concerned about getting you to the hospital and getting the press conference taken care of,” Alukai said with a smile. “They don’t have that much to pack around, so I bet they’ll take a cab here. I know they’re going to want to see how you’re doing.”

“You could call Jace and see what’s going on.”

“Indeed I could,” Alukai admitted. With gentle hands he propped his lover up in his chair, making sure he was covered by the hospital blanket they had been given. He wasn’t able to use his cell phone inside the building in case it interfered with the medical equipment, so he gently accused himself and slipped out through the emergency room doors.

“Hey Jace, how did it go?” he asked when Jace answered his phone.

“It was insanity, but I know we’re going to get some serious momentum,” Jace informed him. “It won’t take long for the president to realize we know what he’s done.”

“That’s good to hear. Darius is still waiting for his x-rays to come back, and then the doctor will decide if he needs a cast or not.”

“Yeah, I figured you guys were going to take awhile, seeing as Darius wasn’t a true emergency case,” Jace commented. “We’ll grab a cab and meet the two of you at home, alright?”

“Sounds good. They drugged Darius up pretty good because he was in so much pain, so he’s pretty much falling asleep.” Alukai said his goodbyes to Jace before stepping back into the hospital, turning off his cell phone right away. He wasn’t surprised when he found Darius sleeping in his chair, bandaged wrist cradled gently against his chest.

“Oh, baby…” he mumbled, taking his seat again and gently moving Darius into his arms, making sleeping easier for the younger male.

“Is he sick?” someone asked, and Alukai shook his head.

“We think he broke his wrist after taking a tumble on the ice today, so the doctor gave him some pills to help with the pain. He gets rather sleepy when he takes pain killers, but a nap isn’t going to hurt anything,” Alukai explained. “We’re waiting for the doctor to interpret his x-rays and get a cast on him if it’s needed.”

“That’s too bad,” the woman cooed, holding her own young child against her chest.

“Is your baby sick?” Alukai asked, not wanting to simply ignore the woman, seeing as they both needed something to distract them from the wait.

“He has a bit of a cough, and that worried me,” she admitted. “But it isn’t an emergency, so I get to sit out here and wait.”

“We’ve been here almost three hours now,” Alukai said with a sigh. “Even with PET Systems working in the hospitals, there just isn’t enough people.”

“I agree, and I heard that the president is drafting PETS into some war he won’t even tell us about!” People in the waiting room turned to look at the pair, and Alukai managed a small smile.

“It’s true,” Alukai told her. “I was supposed to be part of the press conference that explained everything, but when Darius got hurt I brought him here instead.”

“My friend saw the live feed on the internet, and texted me about it!” someone else piped in, and Alukai had to stifle his grin. It was good to know that word about the draft was already spreading, and the brunette couldn’t wait to tell Jace the amazing news.

“If they take our PETS, we’ll lose good workers,” another man commented. “I employ PETS who have lost their masters, and they’re some of the best workers I’ve ever had! They never complain, and honestly want to be good workers.”

“My PET System makes sure that I keep taking my medication and don’t have a seizure and die,” an elderly woman said with a wheeze. “Without her I would already be dead. She’s saved my life twice, and loves me no matter what, even when my own kids and grandkids don’t want to talk to me.” Alukai smiled, gently stroking Darius’ hair as he listened to the other patients recall stories about their beloved PET Systems.

“You and your friends are brave to get this news out in the world,” the lady beside him commented. “I’m sure that everything you’ve done is going to make things work out.”

“I hope so,” Alukai said with a soft voice. “A lot of important things are on the line right now.” The brunette sat back against his seat, simply listening to the conversation around him.

“Mr. James?”

“That’s us,” Alukai said, gently lifting Darius as he stood up. “Darius is a little sleepy, so I’ll pack him.” The nurse looked at him funny but shrugged her shoulders and lead Alukai into an open room.

“The doctor will be in to see you shortly,” she told the brunette as Alukai gently laid Darius on the hospital bed.

“Thank you.” Alukai once again ran his fingers through Darius’ hair, coaxing his dark haired boyfriend to wake up.

“Hey baby… The doctor is going to be here soon, and then we can go home,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Darius’ head. Darius shifted and squirmed on the uncomfortable, paper covered hospital bed, blinking his eyes sleepily.

“Too bright…”

“I know baby, but the doctor is going to be here with your x-rays.” He was barely finished his sentence when the doctor stepped into the room, holding Darius’ x-rays in his hand.

“Hello boys,” he said with a smile, closing the door behind himself. Darius struggled to sit up, yawning against the affects of the pain medication.

“I took a look at your x-rays and it’s just like we suspected, you’ve broken your wrist.” Darius whimpered, chewing his bottom lip ever so slightly.

“A nurse is on her way with the casting material and we’ll get you all set up,” the doctor said with a smile. “I’ll send you home with some more pain medication, just in case you start to hurt too much.”

“Thank you,” Darius mumbled and Alukai gently pet his lovers knee.

“We’ll get you fixed up and then go back home and you can have a long nap,” he assured the teen. The doctor smiled at the two of them and watched as Alukai helped Darius remove what was left of his jacket, careful not to aggravate his wrist too much.

“Can I have a blue cast?” Darius asked in a small voice, and the doctor nodded with another smile.

“Of course you can,” he told him. The nurse let herself in moments later, carrying a bucket of water and the materials needed to put a cast on Darius’ wrist. With very little spoken words, the nurse gently laid Darius back on the bed and began setting his wrist. The doctor observed with a small smile, making sure to exchange the top layer of bandages for the bright blue that Darius had asked for.

“Almost done boys,” the nurse smiled. “Once this hardens up we can send you home, and you can get a lot of rest.” Even with the pain medication, Darius found himself wincing as the cold bandages wrapped around his swollen wrist, not at all impressed with the feeling.

“Remember that you can’t get this wet,” the doctor informed them. “I recommend only having baths, and wrapping your left arm in a garbage bag to prevent it from getting wet. It’s going to itch, and that’s usually the biggest thing people complain about once the initial pain of the break has gone away. Most people find that using a coat hanger usually gives them the ability to scratch their itches, just remember to be gentle so you don’t break the skin or cause yourself any pain.” Darius managed another thank you and closed his eyes as they all waited for the plaster to dry.

“I’ll make sure he takes care of himself, don’t worry,” Alukai assured the doctor. “Thank you for all your help.”

“No problem boys. Get lots of rest and don’t strain yourself.” Once the plaster was dry and Alukai was holding the prescription for pain killers, the two lovers made their way back outside and to Kaeden’s truck.

“I know you just want to get home, so I’ll get your medication while you’re sleeping,” Alukai informed his younger lover. Darius nodded, accepting help from Alukai to get up into the truck and get buckled in. It wasn’t long before the dark haired teen was sleeping soundly and Alukai was heading home.

 

Within hours the press was all over Kaeden’s house, wanting to get inside interviews from both Kaeden and Jace. Despite the ground being covered in snow and the weather getting colder and colder, no one seemed to care, constantly ringing the doorbell.

“This is insanity!” Kaeden cried, feeling his head begin to pound. The constant doorbell ringing and banging on the door had given the poor blonde a headache, and the inability to take refuge on the second floor was beginning to get to him.

“I’m disabling the doorbell, hang on,” Jace called to his blonde lover, kneeling in front of the front door. He had several tools spread out in front of him, working the control panel off the electrical box that controlled the door bell. He wondered if Darius and Alukai were getting the same backlash that they were getting, wincing as someone else began banging on the front door.

“Piss off!” he shouted, not caring that he was being rude. “Go bother someone else!” Their plan hadn’t included the sudden interest of the press, and Jace had honestly assumed that the press would have simply been happy with their large press conference.

“You should be off bothering the mayor! Or the president!” Not caring about the chance of electrocution, Jace simply grabbed the wires that connected the door bell and pulled at them, happy his synthetic skin blocked electrical conduction. With a satisfying popping sound, the wires came free and there was silence in the house.

“Now, how to take care of people banging on the door constantly,” Jace mused to himself, standing from his kneeling position.

“We need to get a huge dog,” Kaeden muttered, wheeling himself out of the guest bedroom and towards the kitchen. “One that barks like some vicious animal, one that people will fear…” The blonde moved towards the refrigerator and rummaged around for snacks, settling on left over pizza and a can of orange juice.

“If we fenced in the yard, put up a beware of dog sign, and let our new pet run around, we might be able to drive them off. I’m sure they’d report us for endangerment, or something, and besides, we have cats,” Jace pointed out, helping Kaeden take his food to the table. “And I don’t think I would want to have a vicious dog as a pet.”

“Well, they haven’t gotten to the back door yet, so maybe they’re respecting our personal property just a little bit,” Kaeden offered.

“I think the mass amount of snow is what’s keeping them away,” Jace told him honestly. “If they could get to the back door easily, they would.”

“I wonder how Alukai is doing…”

“I was thinking of calling them, but Darius is probably resting.”

“Try Darius’ laptop?” Kaeden suggested, taking a bite of his still cold pizza. “He’s always got it on, even when he isn’t around.” Jace grinned, nodding at his lover before he took off out of the kitchen to find his own laptop, intending to set it up on the kitchen table. The house was darker than normal thanks to the reporters trying to get their attention by knocking on the windows, resulting in Jace closing all the blinds on the first floor. If Kaeden hadn’t have been wheel chair bound, the two would have taken refuge up to the second floor and road out the waves of popularity in relative peace.

“Yeah, he’s online!” Jace called down the stairs, moving his laptop to the kitchen. “I wasn’t expecting him to actually be around, but his status says that he is.” Kaeden smiled at his red headed lover, moving back to the fridge for another slice of pizza.

 

[UrbanRedHead says] Hey both of you, what’s the news?

[MidnightStarlight says] I can’t type very well one handed and you have insane amounts of reporters outside your house. We’re both glad that we actually missed the press conference, just because we get to avoid all the crap going on with you.

[UrbanRedHead says] They won’t leave us alone! I had to rip out the door bell cords, just to give Kaeden some peace and quiet.

[MidnightStarlight says] I don’t blame you for that, but they are probably still banging on your door, aren’t they?

[UrbanRedHead says] Yup, and they were banging on our windows too until I closed them all off. Kaeden can’t get rid of his headache, and I’m tempted to grab a gun and run screaming out the door.

[MidnightStarlight says] You have a gun?

[UrbanRedHead says] Well, no, but it’s just a thought! We never planned for this, and I feel kind of silly for not thinking that this was going to happen.

[MidnightStarlight says] I’m just glad you got the news out to everyone, instead of putting everything on hold while I was at the hospital.

[UrbanRedHead says] We’re glad that you didn’t hurt yourself more than you did. I think we were all worried that you bashed your head in at the same time.

[MidnightStarlight says] Nope, just busted up my wrist. Good thing I’m graduated! Have you been watching the news?

[UrbanRedHead says] It’s playing in the living room, but we’re settled in the kitchen for the time being.

[MidnightStarlight says] Apparently the president has been ambushed so badly that he’s going to make a public address in an hour!

[UrbanRedHead says] Good to know!

[MidnightStarlight says] I’m going to get back to Alukai and the TV, but you two are welcome to come over if you want. My parents love you both, you know.

[UrbanRedHead says] If it wasn’t for the reporters, and Kaeden’s wheel chair, we totally would. This is a monumental moment for us, and it’s kind of sad that we can’t watch it together!

[MidnightStarlight says] I’ll ask Alukai and see what we can do.

[UrbanRedHead says] Come to the back door if the two of you end up coming over. The reporters haven’t been able to make it to the back door because of the snow, so if you and Alukai take a long route, Alukai should be able to plow through the snow no problem.

[MidnightStarlight says] Sounds good! I’ll talk to him

 

Jace sat back from his laptop, rolling his shoulders ever so slightly. Kaeden smiled at the red head beside him, leaning over to kiss his cheek and peer at the conversation he had been having with Darius.

“What’s the news?”

“The president is making a public address in less than an hour, so Alukai and Darius might try and come around and watch it with us,” Jace explained to him, logging off his instant messenger system and closing his laptop.

“Let’s move into the living room and find the channel the president is going to be on, and then we can see what’s going on.” Kaeden smiled, grabbing his can of orange juice and letting Jace wheel him into the living room. He was getting better at moving himself off and on the couch, using his arms to support most of his weight as he heaved his body out of his wheel chair and onto the plush seating.  
“You’re getting so good at that!” Jace said with a grin. “With some more physical therapy you won’t have any more problems.”

“I bet I’ll be up and walking on my own by Christmas,” Kaeden smiled, shifting his legs to get himself comfortable. Jace settled beside his lover and snagged the remote, flipping to the satellite programming guide and searching through the multiple channels that were hosting the local and national news. It wasn’t hard to find the channels that were hosting the presidential address, especially for something as high profile as the upcoming PET System draft.

“Seems our little plan worked,” Jace said with a smug laugh. “The president must not know what to do with himself right now, and that pleases me to know end.”

“You take way too much pleasure in this.”

“He deserves it for trying to screw us all out of our rights,” Jace informed his blonde lover. “I don’t care if we’re robotic beings created to make your life easier, or to provide sexual favors, we still have rights. Pet Palace made that clear in their third year of business, and then the company president suddenly flipped around and started pretending our rights were all lies!” Kaeden rested a hand on Jace’s shoulder, calming him with a gentle pat.

“I understand lover, it’s okay,” he soothed. “Whatever the president says will clear everything up, no matter what happens.”

“Even if they take me away?”

“I don’t want to think about that,” Kaeden said quickly, taking the remote from Jace and turning the television up several notches. Dwelling on what could happen was more than enough to make Kaeden depressed, and that coupled with his injury was something that could cause him to give up on trying.

“I love you,” Jace whispered, curling his arms around Kaeden’s lightly trembling shoulders and hugging his lover closer. Together they waited for the presidential address to begin, Kaeden’s heart racing and Jace’s mechanical mind processing at amazing speeds. Everything they had was sitting on what the president had to say, and it scared both of them more than they were letting on.

“Hey guys! We made it!” Alukai called, scaring the two lovers. Neither had heard Alukai and Darius arrive, and Jace had to extract himself from Kaeden to go greet their guests.

“Those reporters seem to have tapered off,” Darius commented, moving to the front entrance to hang up his coat and set his boots on the boot rack. Alukai wasn’t far behind, shaking some snow from the bottom on his jeans.

“It’s getting colder because the sun went down, so I think they finally got sick of waiting for you. There’s still a few vans though, so we didn’t want to chance coming to the front door anyways,” Alukai supplied. “We told Darius’ parents that we’re going to spend the night, so we hope you don’t mind us simply inviting ourselves in.” Kaeden smiled as everyone made their way into the living room, shuffling over so all four could fit on the couch.

“Why do I feel like we need popcorn for this occasion?” Darius asked, half sitting himself on Alukai’s lap.

“Because this is the biggest event we’ve ever witnessed during our lives,” Kaeden answered honestly, using the extra space provided to support his legs.

“Should I make popcorn then?”

“I don’t want anyone to gag on their popcorn if the outcome is bad,” Jace said quickly. “Especially when the two humans in this house have already spent enough time in a hospital.” Both Kaeden and Darius blushed, turning their attention to the television and deciding not to comment on what Jace had said by ignoring the red head.

“Here it is!” Alukai shouted, nearly upsetting Darius from his place on the brunette’s lap. All four leaned forward ever so slightly and listened intently, not wanting to miss a single thing that their idiotic president had to say. The older man stepped up to the podium, flanked by several body guards and surrounded by hundreds of reporters, citizens, and even the PETS he was trying to draft.

“My fellow patriots,” he began, and was instantly met with un-approving shouts and harsh signs being held in the air. The body guards took a step forward as if expecting the hoards to start attacking before the president could even begin his speech.

“My fellow patriots,” he tried again, using his hands to quiet the people in front of him. “It has come to my attention that a top secret mission given only to the Personal Entertainment Technology Systems of the world has been divulged to the media. I want to explain what is happening, and my position in this situation. Yes, it is true that there is a war I haven’t informed any of you about, but I assure you that it was for your own good. We have been informed that a small rebel country has decided to attack our country with biological weapons, and in order to combat such a situation from happening, I have made the decision to send all Personal Entertainment Technology Systems into the current war zone.” A series of boo’s and outraged cries rose from the people and PETS once again, and security gripped their guns tighter, worried that the people would rebel.

“Please understand, I made this choice to avoid losing human lives,” he tried to explain, but the people continued to hiss and jeer at him.

“What about the information presented by Jace and Kaeden Evans?” someone cried, and the president visibly cringed at the question.

“Everything that Mr. and Mr. Evans has presented was a lie.” Jace let out a shout of outrage and Kaeden had to grip his lover’s shoulder to keep him from leaping off the couch. Alukai muttered under his breath as well, tightening his arms around Darius’ slender waist, watching the television intently.

“I simply want to avoid any human lives from being lost, and it is in the countries best interest to use the Personal Entertainment Technology Systems as an army against the attacking country.”

“You could buy new PETS that are made for war!” someone else cried, and the people surged against the security team holding them back, shouting their outrage.

“I would have to raise taxes in order to do that,” the president tried to explain. “Using already built and designed Personal Entertainment Technology Systems costs nothing and saves this country millions of dollars.”

“You paid the Pet Palace company a billion to shut up about what was going on!” Jace had to commend the people who had brought the megaphones, happy that they were getting their word across.

“That was a lie!”

“You sold us out because you were lazy!” The president’s body guards began to get closer to their leader, not wanting to risk any sort of assassination attempt.

“The Personal Entertainment Technology System draft is mandatory and begins January first of the next year!” the man shouted into the microphones in front of him. “Any System caught avoiding the draft will be instantly seized and dismantled!” The screaming and shouting increased to the point where people were beginning to get past the security detail and the body guards made the choice to get the president off the stage. Cameras zoomed in on the fleeing form of the president before panning around to the angry crowds, reporters trying desperately to be heard above the angry shouts.

“This isn’t fair!” Darius almost shrieked, gripping Alukai tightly. “He can’t do this! This goes against everyone’s rights!” The ebony haired teenager was already on the verge of tears, burying his face against Alukai’s neck. Kaeden gripped his lovers hand, blowing out long breaths to keep from getting too angry. None of them had been prepared for this sort of news, and not one of them knew how to deal with the announcement. People all around the world were going to lose their in home private health care, emergency services, and the economy was going to crash. The president had clearly not considered every option other than saving time and wasting tax payers money no matter which direction he went in.

“I think you two need to go home…” Jace mumbled. Darius was about to protest, but Alukai gently covered his mouth and lifted his lover from the couch, simply holding him close.

“We’ll contact you in a few hours,” Alukai agreed, setting Darius on his feet. “Come on baby, let’s go home.” He didn’t give his boyfriend any chance to protest, ushering him to the main entry. He knew why Jace was telling them to go home, and couldn’t agree more. Seeing as the president had called them liars, the press was bound to rush their front door for information, and their rebuttal.

“Be safe,” Jace said in a soft voice, locking the door behind the two once they were out on the front porch. He was happy to see that the reporters had vanished for the president’s speech, but it wouldn’t be long before they were back again.


	8. Chapter 8

With the holidays fast approaching, businesses were gearing up for the what should have been a Christmas rush. Most people seemed more subdued than usual for the holidays, not really wanting to purchase gifts and talking about the terrible turn the new year would take.

“I can’t afford a real person taking care of me,” an elderly woman said with a cough, patting the hand of the PET System who was pushing her wheel chair. “Bridget takes good care of me, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.” The PET System managed a weak smile, wishing she didn’t have to abandon the woman she had been created to attend to.

“Everyone seems so sad,” Darius commented in a soft voice, holding Alukai’s hand as they wandered the shopping mall.

“There isn’t anything good happening after Christmas, and everyone just wants to forget the tragedy the president is inflicting upon us.” Darius squeezed Alukai’s hand gently, letting his brunette boyfriend lead him from store to store, even though he didn’t honestly feel like shopping.

“Do you know what you want to get Kaeden and Jace for Christmas?”

“Happiness,” the teen mumbled. “I want you and Jace to stay here.” Alukai sighed softly, pulling Darius against him and hugging him close.

“We’ll find them something nice,” he told the smaller male. “Maybe a vacation voucher or something.”

“And go where? You and Jace get drafted in less than two months!” People stopped and looked sadly at the ebony haired male, many knowing all too well how much pain Darius was in.

“I know it hurts, but we can’t avoid this,” Alukai soothed him. “You and Kaeden can keep working on restoring our rights and making the president see he was wrong. I don’t want to see you and Kaeden drafted into the war because the PETS are refusing to be drafted.”

“I wish I could go with you,” Darius mumbled, but Alukai simply shook his head, stroking Darius’ silky hair.

“I know that you and Kaeden will get help with this. There are petitions everywhere against the PETS draft, and people all over the world are offering to help in making things okay again.”

“That’s right sweetie,” an older woman smiled. “We’re not going to let our jerk ass president destroy everything we’ve worked hard to obtain. PETS have been given every right a human has, and I know my family won’t let anyone take our beloved Angel.”

“Please don’t do that,” Alukai said quickly, and the woman looked at him with a strange look.

“Those who refuse to surrender their PETS are fined nearly one hundred thousand dollars and their PET System is deactivated and disabled,” he continued. “Angel would rather fight then never see you again, I know it.”

“Are you being drafted?” she asked, and Alukai nodded.

“Myself and Jace Evans were the ones to break the news,” Alukai admitted. “We know firsthand how important PETS are to the world economy, and all we can do is work hard to try and convince the president to take another route. I don’t honestly believe that there’s another country that hates us so much that they want to kill us using biological weapons. We’ve abolished war, so it makes me think the president is going to use us for something else.”

“What sort of ‘something else’?” Alukai shrugged his shoulders, unsure what he had really been thinking.

“I don’t really know, but there has to be something he’s still keeping from us.” People continued to converse as Alukai and Darius slipped out of the store and continued on their way. Neither knew what they wanted to purchase for Jace and Kaeden, especially when Jace wasn’t going to be around for very long.

“Maybe a plant?” Alukai suggested, motioning to the greenhouse that the mall had. “It’s something that will look nice in the house.” Darius shrugged his shoulders and Alukai had to force himself to keep from heaving a sigh, not wanting to upset his younger lover.

“What about one of those kitty condo things, for Izumi and Felix?” he tried again, but still didn’t receive a response from Darius.

“You have to get over this. Jace and I are leaving, and right now we can’t do anything to stop that.”

“I want to go home,” was the response he got, and Alukai once again had to hold himself back from shouting at the depressed teenager. He knew better than to argue, seeing as they hadn’t gotten any shopping done none the less. Gently holding Darius by the hand, Alukai guided his lover out of the mall and towards his pickup truck.

“How about you give Kaeden the gift of taking care of Soul Catcher while Jace is gone?” Darius said nothing, patiently waiting for Alukai to unlock his truck before simply getting into the passenger seat and buckling himself in. Even with the cast on his left wrist, the dark haired teenager seemed to function quite well, as long as he didn’t have to type or use his left hand to write. Alukai resigned himself to driving home in complete silence, stopping only to grab lunch for Darius from his favorite sushi bar, knowing the California rolls and prawn and vegetable tempura would put a smile on Darius’ face, even if it was only temporary.

“I have sushi,” he tried to sweet talk the teenager, wiggling the boxed sushi in front of Darius’ nose. “It’s all of your favorites, including the yummy tempura sauce.” It took a moment but Darius reached up and took the carefully wrapped box, setting it on his lap and mumbling a soft thank you. It was better than nothing, and Alukai took what he could get, resuming the drive back to Darius’ home. The brunette made sure to walk his younger boyfriend to his front door, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head before he simply let Darius go, not wanting to continue upsetting him. The press seemed to have given up on trying to talk to Kaeden and Jace, their vans gone from Kaeden’s driveway and the freshly fallen snow untouched over the last several days. Jace had decided to decorate the front yard with a Christmas scene, going so far as to purchase a giant plastic Santa clause and his eight reindeer, followed by a projector that would sit in the snow and project constantly changing Christmas pictures onto the side of their home.

“At least they’re in the Christmas spirit,” Alukai muttered to himself, making his way back to his truck and the warmth of the heaters. He didn’t want to bother his friends with his negative attitude when Jace was going to be taken away in less than a month and a half.

“Maybe I’ll send Jace an email or something,” he mumbled to himself, shifting his truck into gear and heading back to his own apartment in the city. He hadn’t been going to work as often as he should have, but with the upcoming draft, he doubted working would be worth his time. There hadn’t been any phone calls about wanting appointments, so Alukai decided he wasn’t going to bother worrying about it.

 

“I’m glad we decided to do this,” Kaeden said with a smile, stretching himself out on the couch he was laying on. The four friends had decided to make the most of their last few weeks together and fly out to a private cabin Kaeden had rented. While Darius’ parents hadn’t been happy that their son was going to be missing Christmas with them, they had agreed to let the teen spend his first and possibly last Christmas with the man he was in love with.

“I second this,” Darius sighed happily. “We’re so far away from reality, and I can’t be happier.” Alukai smiled, throwing two logs onto the large fireplace that was located in the exact middle of the house, in the middle of the large living room.

“I can’t imagine spending the holidays any other way,” he agreed, stepping over the sleeping forms of both Felix and Izumi, the two cats had been brought to the cabin as well, and seemed to be enjoying the new space they were able to explore. Jace arched his back in a large stretch, stepping into the living room with a tray of snacks for his lover and Darius.

“Snack time everyone,” he said with a cheery voice, setting the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“You spoil us,” Kaeden smiled, twisting his body to place his feet back on the floor. “Yummy snacks, movies of all kids, and friends I love.”

“You’re such a sap,” Alukai laughed.

“Well this sap needs something to drink,” Kaeden laughed. With a minor struggle and the help of a set of crutches, the blonde managed to get himself onto his feet. He was proud that he had come so far after his accident, taking every chance to slowly strengthen his legs.

“Looking good sexy,” Jace jeered, and Kaeden wiggled his hips in response. The entire first floor of the large mountain cabin was open and spacious, making it easy for the blonde and his crutches to get around.

“So, it’s December fifteenth,” Kaeden smiled as he came back into the living room with a water bottle in one hand. “What are we going to do for the next ten days before it’s actually Christmas?”

“We could go sledding,” Darius offered, popping a tortilla chip covered in salsa into his mouth.

“As long as we go up and down a hill on the snowmobiles,” Kaeden chipped in. “I don’t think I’m ready to try and haul my crippled ass up and down one yet.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I’m up for it,” Alukai agreed. “We could even build a camp fire outside too and roast hot dogs, or something. It’s not that cold outside, so I think it might be fun.”

“Did we all bring winter clothes?” Jace asked.

“No, of course not,” Alukai teased. “We went on vacation in the mountains and didn’t bring anything to keep warm in while we’re outside.” Jace rolled his eyes but smiled none the less, sitting on the couch only when Kaeden was fully settled.

“I think sledding sounds fun, and we could even look for a tree while we’re out there. We brought all the decorations and everything, right?” Kaeden nodded, popping several pieces of cheese into his mouth.

“Jace loaded them into the back of my truck, seeing as we weren’t going to be home anymore. I think we have everything except the giant Santa and reindeer, and I’m not feeling bad about that,” he said around his mouthful, taking a sip of his water afterwards.

“I can’t wait to decorate the tree,” Darius said with a grin, taking another bite of chips and salsa. “And go sledding, and roast hot dogs in the snow, and so much more!”

“You sound like you’ve never experienced winter before,” Alukai commented, stroking his fingers through his lovers hair. “We have two weeks together, and we’re going to make the most of it.” Kaeden yawned softly, his body relaxed by the crackling fire and the sense of comfort he felt from getting away from the stresses of life. Jace picked up on his lovers relaxation and smiled, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Kaeden’s cheek.

“Ready for bed already?” he asked softly. Kaeden shook his head, shifting so that he was leaning against Jace’s strong chest.

“I might be,” Darius admitted, even though the question hadn’t been for him. Alukai chuckled softly and pulled Darius onto his lap, snuggling his body close to his lover. Something about the cabin made all four of them feel incredibly peaceful, and Kaeden knew he was going to want to make memories out of all their special moments.

“We need to take pictures,” he mumbled. “Lots of pictures, so I can remember every moment.”

“I didn’t bring my camera,” Darius commented.

“I brought a video camera,” Jace piped up, and he was happy to see Kaeden smile.

“Home movies would be fantastic, but I’d love still pictures too,” he admitted. “I think I might have packed my camera, but I’ll have to double check before I commit to anything.” The blonde used Jace as leverage to lean over the coffee table, selecting several crackers, a few slices of meat, and roughly seven chunks of cheese before he settled back down against his boyfriend.

“What time is it?” Alukai twisted his head, locating the only clock on the entire first floor.

“Almost seven, so I guess we could go to bed without seeming like it’s too early,” he informed Darius.

“How about just taking a half hour nap?” Jace suggested. “A power nap, then we can watch a movie and have caramel corn.”

“You’re going to make me fat!” Kaeden mocked his lover, playfully biting Jace on the jaw.

“You love me anyways,” Jace teased back.

“I’m taking a nap,” Darius announced, pushing himself up off the couch and padding towards the stairs that led to the second level. The entire upstairs was also an open concept, minus the bathrooms, and there were no walls. Fifty percent of the second level was dedicated to being a bedroom, with the ability to peer down on the main floor underneath.

“Don’t fall off!” Jace called after him, grinning largely. Alukai whipped a pillow at his friend before pushing himself up as well, following after his sleepy boyfriend.

 

With each passing day the group struggled to find things to do in order to keep their minds off the impending PET System draft. Even the happiness that came with the holidays did little to distract them while they were sitting in the house, resulting in many board games, trips up and down the mountain, and movie after movie.

“I think I’m suffering from movie overload,” Darius groaned, covering his head with one of the many pillows spread all over the living room.

“Maybe we should take a trip into town?” Kaeden suggested. “I think they have this huge Christmas festival going on, or something.”

“What sort of festival?”

“I dunno,” Kaeden shrugged. “I read it in one of the newspapers, or something. I think they have music, fair rides, food, that sort of thing.”

“It’s something to do,” Jace shrugged. “We could take the snow mobiles down, it’s nice out after all.”

“Let’s go,” Alukai said, deciding for everyone by standing up from his place in front of the fire place. “We’ll take two sleds.” Before Darius could ask any questions, Alukai tugged his boyfriend up from the couch and headed for the stairs.

“Let’s all get dressed and we’ll head out in half an hour,” he instructed. Jace smiled at the brunette, happy someone else was taking charge for once. He and Kaeden followed not far behind, more than ready to get out of the house and away from the depressing thoughts that came with the approaching end of the year.

“Someone remember to feed the cats before we go!” Darius called down, and Kaeden called back a confirmation, hobbling himself into the kitchen to double check that Izumi and Felix had food and water for the day. The blonde had gotten dressed the moment he had gotten out of bed, mostly because it was nearly impossible for him to climb the stairs that lead to the second level, resulting in Jace carrying him up and down. To keep from bothering his red headed lover too often, Kaeden had simply taken to getting dressed right away, and making sure he had everything he needed before he got carried down to the main level.

“Is your wallet down there?” Jace asked, peering down from the second level to eye his boyfriend. Kaeden checked his pockets, the kitchen table, and the table beside the door before he shook his head.

“I think it’s in my pants from yesterday,” he replied. Jace nodded and moved back to the bed they were sharing, digging through the pile of dirty clothes in order to find Kaeden’s wallet.

“I can’t wait to get going!” Darius cried as he came thundering down the stairs, nearly tripping over himself and his own baggy jeans.

“Easy there,” Alukai chuckled. “No more accidents, remember? Besides, I’m sure the festival is going to be around for awhile, and will probably turn into a New Year’s festival right afterwards.”

“You think?” Darius asked, moving to the front door in order to pull his snow boots on. Alukai nodded, motioning to the most recent copy of the newspaper that had been delivered.

“I think they mentioned something about that, but I was more interested in the comics than the articles. That’s more up Jace’s alley.” The red head in question stuck his tongue out at his friend and handed Kaeden his wallet.

“Do you think you’re going to be able to handle all this walking around?” he asked softly, helping his blonde boyfriend put his boots on.

“I’m sure I will be able to,” Kaeden assured him. “If all else fails, I’ll just have to buy a sled and have you pull me around, won’t I?”

“I could do that,” Jace agreed, getting Kaeden to wiggle his toes in order to make sure the boots were too tight. The red head hoped that Kaeden would be able to function without him, especially with Kaeden returning to work in the beginning of the new year.

“No more bad thoughts until the bad stuff happens,” Jace told the blonde quickly, standing and wrapping his arms around Kaeden’s small hips.

“I second that,” Alukai agreed with the red head. “We won’t feel bad until after the holidays, and not until after Jace and I are already gone.” Darius managed a small smile, before deciding to change the suddenly depressed mood in the house by grabbing the keys to one of the snow mobiles and bolting out the front door, not bothering to zip up his jacket.

“I get to drive!” he called over his shoulder, leaping over a small pile of logs in order to get to the snow mobile he liked to call his own. Only when he was sitting on the machine did he take the time to zip his jacket, grinning at the other three males who were still standing in the doorway.

“I’d do that if I wasn’t a cripple,” Kaeden laughed, zipping his own jacket before he hobbled out the front door, careful not to slip on the front set of steps. Jace and Alukai laughed, finishing getting dressed and following Kaeden, Alukai remembering to lock the front door once they were all out.

“Does everyone have everything?” he asked, and the other three males nodded, Jace settling himself on the other snow mobile. It took a little effort to strap Kaeden’s crutches to the machine but several minutes later they were on their way, following the snow trails down into the city. While they had been secluded up in their mountain cabin, the city was a bustling, festive holiday decorated wonderland, and a good break from their seclusion on the mountain. While they weren’t able to communicate while travelling due to their helmets, it was obvious by the smiles on their faces that they were enjoying the trip into the city. People smiled and waved as the group made their way to the enclosed area that had been set up for everyone to store their snow mobiles, as they were the main source of transportation in the mountain city.

“This is so beautiful!” Darius gushed the moment he had pulled off his helmet, trusting Alukai to sign all the papers for their parking area. Kaeden smiled and accepted Jace’s help to get himself arranged on the packed down snow, a little worried that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his footing for very long.

“You boys must be the ones up in that huge cabin, aren’t you?” the lot manager asked, grinning at the group of four.

“Yes, we are,” Jace said with a smile, resting a hand on his lovers lower back in order to offer him some sort of support.

“Welcome to our humble little town,” the man laughed, waving his hands around him. “Everything is in full swing, so take your time and enjoy! There are fireworks every night at ten, and everywhere you go there’s going to be food, and places to warm up. Don’t forget to check out the ice carving competition.” Alukai thanked the man, making sure to make mental notes of everything the man had suggested. It seemed that their trip down the mountain was going to be well worth it, bidding a goodbye to the lot manager before heading into the city.

“What should we check out first?” Alukai asked, lacing his fingers with Darius’ as they walked.

“It’s still early, so maybe we can just wander around until something catches our eyes?” Kaeden offered, glad his friends were considerate enough to walk slowly, seeing as the blonde had a hard time keeping up with everyone. Jace nodded his agreement, keeping an eye on his lover, worried that the blonde was going to end up on the ground.

“Can we have lunch too?” Darius asked, motioning at a cute little café that was attached to a skating rink. Not able to skate, but willing to have his boyfriend and friends have fun, Kaeden agreed to having lunch and skating on the attached rink. They ordered their food and settled down at a heated café table right on the edge of the skating rink, Alukai, Jace, and Darius lacing their skates and snatching only a few bites of food before they took off. Being so close to the rink, Kaeden was happy to sit and watch, taking pictures of his fun loving friends in order to make memory books after the holidays. Despite neither Jace nor Alukai ever skating before, the two PET Systems were easily able to adapt to their changing environment, watching other skaters to pick up hints and tips to keep from falling over. Darius, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky, especially with the fact that he had only skated a few times in his life, and wasn’t honestly used to not having a cast on his arm. The dark haired teen had been freed of his cast only days before they had left for their trip, and was still struggling to build the muscles back up in his left lower arm.

“Maybe we should get you one of those practice kiddy chairs!” Kaeden laughed as the three came off the ice to finish their food.

“I think I prefer staying off the ice, but I’m having fun,” Darius informed him, popping several ketchup and gravy covered French fries into his mouth. Not wanting to stand out from everyone else, Jace and Alukai had both ordered food as well.

“Where to after this?” Kaeden asked, tilting his head to the side as he leaned himself against Jace.

“I was thinking we could check out that ice carving thing, like the lot manager told us. I’ve always wanted to try ice carving, but I never did,” Alukai said between bites of his poutine.

“I saw a poster for an indoor carnival,” Darius added, pointing across the ice rink. “They have games and what not, and outside there’s a Ferris wheel and bumper cars!”

“You are way too excitable today,” Jace commented.

“I think it’s all the sugar he’s been ingesting,” Alukai said with a smile. “Candy canes, sugar cookies, and now an insane amount of hot chocolate.”

“I’ve never had a Christmas like this, and I want to make the best of it,” Darius informed the three. “Now stop bugging me and let’s have some more fun. I’m sure Kaeden has enough pictures of us skating, and I’ve never been to a carnival before.”

“I’m just here for the ride,” the blonde responded, finishing the last of his peppermint tea. “Lead on my fearless leaders.” Everything on the table was cleared away and the group headed back out into the city, ready to explore.

 

“The carnival was amazing!” Darius gushed as he flopped down on the couch, once more back in the cabin. They had spent the entire day in the city and had only arrived back at the cabin at nearly three in the morning. Kaeden had instantly been packed to the second floor, already exhausted from simply getting around on his crutches.

“You still have way too much energy,” Alukai said with a smile, ruffling his lovers hair gently. He planned on staying up for as long as Darius was awake, not wanting to miss any moments with his beloved. Jace had bid his friends a goodnight when he had taken Kaeden up to bed, the red head carefully tucking his lover in before he himself crawled into the bed. There wasn’t much more time he could spend with Kaeden, and it hurt him to know that in less than a week he was going to be taken away.

“No matter what they do to me, I won’t forget you,” he whispered, pressing his body close to Kaeden’s. With the day of the draft growing closer and closer, Jace hadn’t been able to slip into his sleep mode. His mechanical brain was constantly thinking about the future, even if he didn’t say anything to Kaeden. He knew that Alukai was having the same thoughts, and both of them were struggling to keep from letting on about how worried they were.

 

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Ho-Ho!”

“Happy Christmas!”

“Bah…” Three sets of heads turned to look at Alukai, the only one of the group who didn’t seem to be excited that it was Christmas morning.

“Feeling a little down are we?” Kaeden asked, shifting from his position on the floor to start passing out the presents.

“I wanted to be original,” was the response, Alukai accepting his first gift. Wrapping paper and ribbons were tossed from person to person, bows stuck in hair and happy smiles were plastered on all four faces.

“I can’t believe you guys bought Felix and Izumi a kitty condo!” Kaeden grinned, having been given a picture of the large, multilevel scratching post that would be delivered to Jace and Kaeden’s home in January.

“You know we love the kittens as much as we love you guys, so it seemed only right that they get Christmas presents too,” Alukai explained, smiling. The two cats were absolutely ecstatic to have so much paper and ribbon on the floor, chasing each other through the masses and all around the main floor. More than once Felix found herself covered in multiple bows, not that they stuck for very long on her silky fur.

“So what’s next on the list of things to do today?” Darius asked, snuggling himself into the hooded sweatshirt Kaeden had given him.

“I was thinking we could start on the turkey, and then start a scary, zombie movie marathon,” Jace suggested. “But I think we have exhausted all of our movie stash, and there’s never anything good on TV anyways.” Kaeden moved into a laying down position to throw his legs over Jace’s lap.

“How about pizza, wine, and playing board games?” Alukai said. “I don’t feel like turkey, and I think we should simply party until the new year.”

“I don’t really drink…”

“That’s fine Darius, I don’t think any of us really do. We can have pop, and juice, and hot chocolate, and be nerdy with board games for as long as we can,” Jace assured the teen with a smile. “It’s mainly the fact that we’re spending time together, that’s all.”

“We could see what sort of things the city is doing for the four days leading up to New Years,” Kaeden suggested, yawning a little. Darius had gotten them up rather early, and Kaeden was feeling the sleepiness creeping up on him.

“Let’s start with breakfast,” he mumbled. “I’m hungry, and I think pancakes and sausages are in order.” Jace smiled and gently moved his lovers legs from his lap, assuming the title of breakfast chef that morning. Darius wasn’t far behind, offering to help set the table while Alukai started cleaning up the mounds of wrapping paper. Not wanting to feel like a slacker, Kaeden held the large garbage bag Alukai was using, smiling at his brunette friend.

“This was so worth it,” he said with a soft sigh, and Alukai nodded.

“I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the holidays together, and I have a special surprise for all of us when we ring in the new year.” Kaeden lifted an eyebrow but didn’t ask any questions, tying off the bag once they were finished cleaning up.

“Are you worried about everything else?” The blonde had lowered his voice, not wanting to ruin Darius’ wonderful holiday mood with talks of the draft. Alukai nodded, tossing the light weight bag towards the front door before he sat down beside the blonde.

“I’m giving Darius my company and my apartment,” he said, careful not to let his boyfriend hear. “I have a worker lined up, and they’ll run everything, but Darius will be named owner while I’m gone. I’ve already talked to his parents, and they’re on board, so I just have to get him to sign the papers.”

“You brought them, right?”

“Of course, but I’m waiting until the end of the month. He comes into power on January first if he accepts the company, and I have a feeling he will. How are you holding up?”

“I know I can live without Jace, but it’s going to be hard,” Kaeden admitted. “I go back to work in the second week of January, so I’ll have something to keep me busy, but I know it’s going to hurt none the less. I just wish I knew where you guys were going, and when you would be coming back.” Alukai gently rested his arm on Kaeden’s slender shoulders, hugging the blonde close and simply sitting quietly. He knew that Jace had heard their conversation, and hoped that breakfast would be ready quickly so they would be distracted once again.

 

The day of the draft dawned with painfully grey skies, and hundreds of people crying in pain while they accompanied their beloved PETS to the designated draft areas. Young children were pulled away from the nannies that had been raising them, and the elderly lost the only home care they could afford. Lovers were torn apart and PETS were loaded into the back of trucks as if they were nothing more than stock animals. Darius and Kaeden held themselves together, struggling to keep from breaking down as Alukai and Jace were lead away from them. Both males had rings on their ring fingers, a promise that their lovers would return to them, and marry them. Kaeden had forced himself to stand on his own, being strong for his lover when all he wanted to do was collapse to the ground and cry. More than one woman had sank to her knees, screaming as her lover was taken from her, while men struggled to stay composed as their custom PETS were lead off, leaving the men without their life partners. Already the economy had noticed the effect that removing PETS had caused, and many businesses had to close their doors and frantically advertise their need for workers. To the left, a man struggled against guards as his PET System wife was pulled out of arms. She was screaming and reaching for the man she had been created for, and people had to turn away to keep from losing what little control they had on themselves. The pain was more than some could handle, and with a gentle tug from Kaeden’s hand, Darius turned and walked away from the scene. Jace and Alukai had vanished from their sight rather quickly, and Kaeden couldn’t handle the loss any longer, needing to get away from it all. He trusted Darius to drive as he simply pulled his sore, overly tired body into the back seat of his Chevrolet Avalanche and curled himself in the blanket he had gotten especially for Jace the first day they had met.

“Home…” he whimpered. “I wanna go home…” Darius nodded, not trusting himself to be able to talk as he shifted the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. They still had access to the cabin for several more days, and he had never been so happy to have a secluded place to hide in. It took nearly an hour to make his way up the mountain, but the moment he had pulled into the driveway he broke down. Kaeden wasn’t far behind, the two crying their pain and mourning the loss of their mates. Darius had to struggle to help Kaeden into the cabin, barely making it to the living room before they collapsed together. Felix and Izumi instantly picked up on the pain the boys were feeling, rubbing their soft fur against their faces and pawing gently at their arms. This pain wasn’t something they could fix, but they were going to try none the less. In the shimmering light of the fire in front of them, Darius closed all the blinds in the house and brought blankets down from the second floor, knowing Kaeden wouldn’t make it back upstairs. Together they curled up on the couch and simply held one another, hurting too much to say any words. All they could do now was wait, and hope.


End file.
